Best reporting in any medium on Latin America
AWARD DATE: 2000
AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 2000
AWARD RECIPIENT: Peter Van Sant, Susan Zirinsky, Al Briganti, Patti Aronofsky, Shoshanah Wolfson, Chuck Stevenson, Robert Orozovich, Mead Stone, Alberto Moya
AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: CBS Newsm – 48 Hours
AWARD HONORED WORK: “Lori Berenson: Brutal Consequences”
In an hourlong show about the case of Lori Berenson in Peru, 48 Hours achieved all the goals of great journalism: new insights, a compelling story, and the first interview with the young American who is serving a life sentence in Peru for treason. Both the unfairness of her trial and the inconsistencies in her stories were exposed. Peter Van Sant’s skillful interview of Berenson suggested she was not just a young idealist innocently mixed up with murderous terrorists.
Citation for Excellence:
Molly Moore
The Washington Post
“Irma’s Dream”