Best newspaper or wire service reporting from abroad
AWARD YEAR: 1997
AWARD NAME: The Hal Boyle Award 1997
RECIPIENT: Mark Bowden
AFFILIATION: The Philadelphia Inquirer
HONORED WORK: “Blackhawk Down”
Although it is about an event that occurred in 1993, this graphic, 29-part narrative about the disastrous U.S. military operation in Mogadishu, Somalia, raises jarring questions about America’s role as global peacekeeper and the Pentagon’s control over press coverage of warfare. To dig out the details of this one-day battle, in which 91 elite American soldiers were killed or wounded, the author broke down the military’s wall of secrecy by obtaining classified records and interviewing dozens of participants, including Somalian fighters and members of America’s secret Delta unit.
Citations for Excellence:
Nate Thayer
The Wall Street Journal
“Interview with Pol Pot”
Sam Dillon, Tim Golden, Julia Preston, Craig Pyes
The New York Times
“Mexican Corruption”