Associated Press reporters Paisley Dodds and Justin Pritchard have won 2004 George Polk Awards for excellence in journalism. Dodds won the award for foreign reporting, for her coverage of the fall of the Aristide regime in Haiti. Pritchard was awarded the George Polk Award in Labor Reporting for his investigative coverage of job-related deaths of Mexican workers in the United States. Journalism awards, covering a range of media, were given in 11 other categories as well. Considered among the top honors in journalism, the Polk Awards are named after the CBS correspondent killed in 1948 while covering a civil war in Greece. This year's winners were announced by Long Island University, which administers the awards.

 

"Paisley and Justin are very special journalists -- fiercely determined reporters, gifted writers and excellent news leaders," said Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of The Associated Press. "We're proud of their award-winning work and the terrific journalism they produce and lead every day."

 

Dodds' coverage from Haiti constituted essential intrepid reporting. Among other things, she camped out at the airport for two nights awaiting Aristide's departure and, as soon as he flew off, climbed a wall to get to a runway and report that the U.S. Marines had arrived.

 

In awarding her the George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting, the judges said Dodds covered the toppling of the Aristide government "at great personal risk" to provide an eyewitness account that also detailed the roles played by the United States and the Dominican Republic. "Later, as floods devastated the country, she continued her efforts, shedding light on the deplorable conditions the Haitian people endured and how their poverty magnified the destruction of this natural disaster."

 

Dodds was recently named AP bureau chief in London. The past four years she has served as news editor for the AP in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She joined AP in 1994 as a correspondent in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has also worked for AP in Miami, Little Rock, Boston and New York. She is a graduate of John Carroll University in Ohio.

 

Pritchard's stories, "Dying to Work," painstakingly documented the dangers to immigrants of working in the United States. His report took a year of work and investigation, and revealed how Mexicans working in America die from work-related deaths at an alarming number.

 

In singling out his work, the Polk judges noted how it drew responses from both the U.S. and Mexican governments, and prompted a special forum on Hispanic safety and health.

 

Pritchard was named news editor for AP in Los Angeles last year. He previously was based in San Francisco, where he specialized in immigration coverage. He joined AP in 2000 after working in Southeast Asia. He also reported from Cuba, on a Pew Fellowship. He holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University in Providence.

 

Associated Press Special Correspondent Helen O'Neill has been honored for her writing by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. O'Neill won the award for non-deadline writing for her story, "Kidnapping Grandma Braun," about the kidnapping of an 88-year-old grandmother in a small Wisconsin town. In awarding her the prize, the judges said, "O'Neill's writing is spare, exciting, intimate. The pace is relentless, the cliffhangers nailbiting. There simply wasn't a false note in the series; it was authentic to the core."

 

"Helen has that rare ability to pull you right into a riveting story, enticing you to care about the characters and holding you in her spell until the very last word," said Kathleen Carroll, the AP's executive editor. "Readers anxiously followed each harrowing development, sighing with relief when Heddie Braun was rescued alive and cheering when her captors were sent to prison."

 

O'Neill joined AP in 1996 and was named a national writer for the AP in 1997. In 2001, she was named a special correspondent. Her tales of high adventure and human drama have garnered a wide audience and captured other major writing awards. She is a native of Ireland, and graduated from University College Dublin.

 

The ASNE is the main organization of newspaper editors in the United States. Its yearly awards honor distinguished writing and photography. Seven other awards were also announced. View the list of winners at http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5483