May 1999
Lisa Getter
"U.S. Military Accidents Linked to
Flawed Maps"
The Los Angeles
Times
When NATO mistakenly bombed the Chinese
Embassy in Belgrade in May based on a bad map, several
newspapers reported that flawed maps had plagued the
military before, causing the 1998 accident in which a Marine
Corps jet struck an Italian gondola cable. But
The Los Angeles
Times revealed that the Belgrade
mistake was part of a much longer pattern of fatal errors in
maps supplied by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency
(NIMA). According to the Times, the NIMA (which
was formed in 1996) and its predecessor agency have suffered
from an exodus of senior analysts and cartographers,
shortages in congressional funding, and friction between the
intelligence and defense communities.
Neil A. Lewis
"A Court Becomes a Model of
Conservative Pursuits"
The New York Times
In a comprehensive look at the people and politics of
the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Lewis explores the court's "decided
shift" to the right over the past decade. Reviewing its rulings on the death
penalty, environmental regulation, gay rights, and tobacco, Lewis explains
how the court's conservative majority has engaged in "an extaordinary degree
of maneuvering to insure that decisions on important cases come out as the
majority prefers." The article is important because to a somewhat less dramatic
degree, this has been happening in federal courts throughout the country.
The Monthly Journalism Award
is presented each month to one or more newspaper, magazine, radio, or television
stories (or series of stories) that demonstrate a commitment to the public
interest. We are particularly interested in reporting that explains the
successes and failures of government agencies at all levels and of other
institutions such as the media, corporations, unions, and foundations that
contribute to the existence or solution of public problems. Please send
nominations (including two copies of the article or broadcast text) to Monthly
Journalism Award, 1611 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009.
