Best newspaper or wire service interpretation of foreign affairs
AWARD YEAR: 1998
AWARD NAME: The Bob Considine Award 1998
RECIPIENT: Barton Gellman
AFFILIATION: The Washington Post
HONORED WORK: “Shell Games: Washington, Baghdad and the Hunt for Iraq’s Forbidden Weapons”
Throughout Saddam Hussein’s brinksmanship with the United Nations, the Washington Post’s Barton Gellman was able to get behind the scenes and provide uncanny insights into iG strategies of each of the players. Gellman’s reports not only read with the suspense of a John Le Carre novel; they managed to render a complex situation comprehensible to the layman. Gellman’s reporting, his cultivation of sources, his persistence in tracking down leads and his clear-sighted analysis provide an example of journalism at its best.
Citations for Excellence:
Tracy Wilkinson
Los Angeles Times
“The Balkans”
Carla Anne Robbins
The Wall Street Journal
“Dangerous Diversions: Nuclear Proliferation and Arms Control”