Jerry Seper of the Washington Times wins immigration journalism award

U.S. Newswire:

Jerry Seper of The Washington Times has been awarded the 2005 Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration. The award, presented since 1997 by the Center for Immigration Studies, is intended to promote informed and fair reporting on this most contentious and complicated issue.

Newspapers typically have not assigned immigration as a separate beat, often simply tacking it on to coverage of racial and ethnic issues. Mr. Seper represents an exception to this rule: He is a dogged reporter assigned by his paper to devote his full time to coverage of immigration news. His work covers the full spectrum of issues arising from our dysfunctional immigration system, from national security to bleeding state budgets to Capitol Hill back room dealings. He has filed literally hundreds of stories on immigration for the Times since his assignment to the beat less than two years ago. The Center is delighted to honor his (and his employer's) diligent commitment to shining light into the dark recesses of this vital -- but often neglected -- policy issue.

Mr. Seper's, and the Times', commitment to coverage of immigration beyond the Beltway is illustrated most plainly by the travels demanded of him on the beat. Over the past two years he has spent months traveling the northern and southern border states pursuing stories of real Americans on the receiving end of our dysfunctional immigration system.

Mr. Seper's reporting illuminates the gamut of immigration's contemporary conditions: In the same week that he wrote of Arizona residents protesting the lawlessness enveloping their state by passing Proposition 200, he also wrote of the appalling violence perpetrated with increasing frequency in the Washington area by the MS 13 gang. There is a big picture portrait Mr. Seper offers readers, and it's very much in the public interest.

Mr. Seper's work, and that of previous Katz Award winners, is on line at http://www.cis.org/articles/Katz/katzintro.html

The inspiration for the award was Eugene Katz, a native New Yorker who started his career, after Dartmouth and Oxford, as a reporter for The Daily Oklahoman. In 1928 he joined the family business, working as an advertising salesman for the Katz Agency, and in 1952 became the president of Katz Communications, a half-billion-dollar firm which not only dealt in radio and television advertising but also owned and managed a number of radio stations. Mr. Katz was also a member of the Center for Immigration Board until shortly after his 90th birthday in 1997. The Center benefitted greatly from his wise counsel, and the Board and staff developed an affection for him that extended well beyond business matters. He passed away in March 2000 at the age of 93.

Thanks to Mark Krikorian for the email!