The Washington Examiner has been given top journalism honors by a coalition of local good government advocates.
The Federation of Citizens Associations of the District of Columbia feted The Examiner on Tuesday night at its 99th anniversary gala at Fort McNair. The Examiner was given the group’s Fourth Estate award for its commitment to covering — and uncovering — local news in the nation’s capital.
“During the current demise of media giants and the diminishing coverage of local news, The Washington Examiner newspaper has chosen a path less traveled in serving the reading public,” the group said in its citation. “The Washington Examiner has increased its coverage of local news, enhanced the quality of its local reporting and made the paper more accessible and available at transportation centers and business districts across the city.”
The federation is an umbrella group for dozens of local activists organizations, ranging from the Association of Oldest Inhabitants to the Hillcrest Community Civic Association. Its members take on city hall every day to better the lives of thousands of Washingtonians.
“To be honored in your hometown, where your work is read every day, is the highest praise a newspaper can get,” said Washington Examiner Editor Stephen G. Smith. “It was a powerful reminder that our work makes a real difference in peoples’ lives.”
The award was presented by Dorothy Brizill, co-founder of D.C. Watch, the online newsletter dedicated to opening up the local government to public scrutiny. She said she was proud to hand over the plaque, “because I know of which I speak.”
The Examiner debuted in Washington and its suburbs in February 2005. It’s now delivered to hundreds of thousands of homes twice per week and is available six days per week at Metro stops.
Also honored Tuesday were D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs director Linda Argo, for her efforts to turn around a long moribund bureaucracy; longtime Michigan Park activist Dino Drudi; Penn-Branch neighborhood activist Alberta Paul; D.C. Watch co-founder Gary Imhoff; and retired Sumner School archivist Nancye Suggs.
