And down to the annual National PressFoundation Awards dinner, the event recognizes journalists and the stories they have covered. [background sounds]. Lease and gentlemen, welcome back to the podium. Thank you for joining us. Your sponsorship of tonights dinner will go towards National PressFoundation Training programs in the United States and around the world. It is been my Great Fortune in five years to educate journalists across the globe, we run Training Programs in buffett barcelona, shanghai, i would not be, moscow, hong kong and paris. Reinforce relationships with two remarkable International Foundations who are just as passionate about journalism as we are. They share our dedication to making good journalists better. This foundation difference is in four years of programs and paris. To train journalists about science, and how to communicate science. In the foundation hong kong, its something train journalists about International Trade programs. Using incredibly timely and critical partnerships will benefit in journalism for years to come. Heres a brief video about her International Training. National press foundation has long long history of conducting International Training under our journalists to journalists better. We had two brandnew j to j programs in 2019. And more scheduled this year. Jim took us to hong kong where we trained 20 journalists from across asia International Trade. An urgent. Several deep dive on the chair force, learned the history of asia u. S. Traits. Toward the seventh Largest Force in the world. And took the wheel of the ship simulator. In october, we were in paris, training 25 american and European Union journalists on science. And in science communications. Some of us learn about neurobiology, and how to debunk fake science and how to interpret scientific abstracts. They toured the institute for famed scientists, louis pasteur, ann marie, and they learned about Life Expectancy from a real sir michael verma. [inaudible]. They gave us a lot of Practical Knowledge and explain some of the technicalities to demonstrate. [inaudible]. We see whats happening in u. S. , and we got people from china and also investors. Nps makes good journalists better all of the world. [applause]. Our visa digital manager, program manager, in turn valerie, jenny, director of operations for the center. Npf. [applause]. , they cannot have two president s of course. Tonight, i am retiring and leaving in very capable hands. It setting brings formidable combination of suppressive journalism experience here and abroad, as well as a deep understanding of press freedoms and challenges in her international contacts. I am turning npf over the sunny and great confidence into the next chapter. [applause]. Thank you so much. Its an honor to follow Sandy Johnson in leading this organization. Im feeling very big shoes. I want to thank all of you of help build National Press foundation in a strong institution. Nurtures the kind of journalism we honor tonight. Evidencebased journalism that propels and protects our democracy. I would like to introduce two people give them some very heavy lifting. They are the best kind of washington writers. There are people who are committed to great journalism and a loss to know how to get things done. Good things done in this town. Please welcome our Dinner Committee chair. [applause]. Thank you sunny, we want to thank all of the Dinner Committee people. These are people calling you. The romans also thank you. Born with twitter, terry bge, kathy with Public Affairs consultant, Kevin Goldberg with the Digital Media association, leonard with remote communication, raymond, and those, with toyota and lauren with cnn. [applause]. Will sort of thing the rest of the Dinner Committee. Jeffrey smith with Honda North America inc. , and cta, sally, susan twain cspan, chris and a bit of Public Affairs, time and aarp. Thank you also much. [applause]. Ladies and gentlemen, kathy, chair of the National PressFoundation Board of directors and communications consultants. Good evening. One of the privileges that comes with the chairmanship of the National Preservation is being able to choose who receives this special award. Also tonight awardees, or individuals being cited for their outstanding journalism or for lifetime achievement. This award is being given on exceptional idea. And to the two people who are tearing it out. Charlie and steve, are the cofounders of report for america. The initiative to strengthen local journalism at a time when they are facing enormous challenges. That Research Center reports newsroom jobs in the United States declined 25 percent from 2008, 22018. Report for america has been swimming against the tide. Since 2017. Working to strengthen Quality Community journalism and areas for local reporting has collapsed. Continually expanding in the coming years, the Program Plans to place 250 journalists and hundred and 65 newsrooms. In 46 states and puerto rico. Many of these humans are less are trying to vastly undercut every areas telling stories that otherwise would not be told. We are ambassadors for journalism. One of them told me recently and helping to create an understanding of what a journalist does. When journalism was under siege, report for america strengthened our democracy by providing artifactual in depth information that the electorates need to make informed decisions and keep democracy strong. Here are charlies team, accomplished journalists in their own rights to describe this groundbreaking project. [applause]. Thank you kathy. Thank you, for this award. Thank you to the National Press foundation. This is truly an honor. I want to thank a couple of people. I want to thank our amazing team, who every day is building this vision out. All i think all of the journalists in this room. Our call on race or appear tonight, this is not an easy time to be a journalist. He really feels like the crisis in journalism has become a crisis for our democracy. Report for america is trying to do something about that. What we do is pretty basic. Were trying to take emerging journalists and give them an opportunity to going to a smaller newsroom, for local news and get into undercover cords of the country. I am charlie, one of the cofounders, steve and i cofounded it. I had something called the ground project. We support a new generation of journalist to do reporting around the world and here in United States. Within 2018, we decided to launch report for america as a flagship program. And watching report for america, we started really small. We had three reporters. And now its really grown. Starting to truly feel like it is a movement. The Movement Really started with an idea. It was idea inspired by my cofounder, steve who had this really smart notion that was born of a question which was the Education Reform Movement has teach for america, what is in journalism have a report for america. We decided we would come together to try to make that idea a reality. And we been on a journey trying to do that and in great honor to be here to celebrate the momentum we have really feel. So thank you, i dont think steve for leading us into the vision. Thank you steve. [applause]. Thank you so much for this. Thank you charlie and the project are deciding to embrace this unusual idea. We refer to it as National Service program. For journalist to go into local communities cover under covered topics and communities. And in some way the ideas really breathtakingly simple. The way to solve the problem of local news is with more local reporters. And so yes we have 250 that are going into the field in june. Shooting for thousand reporters 2024. If we can raise enough money. [applause]. It is more than about just putting reporters in the field. It is also about reestablishing the idea of local reporting is a Public Service profession. Which of course is a lot why people wanted to in the first place but it tends get ground out of you by the business reality. Sir things. The real Public Servants who are people, Young Journalist like michelle, in mississippi today, but her first year spotlighted a shocking rise in president s in the mississippi prison system and got the Justice Department to look at it. Or will write to found, no clean Drinking Water in Eastern Kentucky or many a while we discovered that an american citizen being held by ice illegally and got them sprung by reporting about it. These journalists are amazing. And we are really honored, to accept this award on behalf of the newsroom, and these journalists who work really trying to strengthen communities and rebuild trust on the ground level. Thank you. [applause]. If that whats up. The purpose of npf storytelling award is to recognize digital journalism reinvents the way stories are told. This year, goes to in pretty are in the university for Investigative Journalism and Capital New Service for a story about how low income urban neighborhoods are hotter than wealthier ones. The judges said the brilliance of the Data Collection tools, this is npf, they built for the story may offer early delete somehow innovation will drive the future of newsrooms. Heres a look at the project called code red. In big cities across the u. S. , low income neighborhoods are hotter will be once. Joint investigation by an npf at the university of maryland. People recruiting because theyve shown some interest in urban affairs. We may clear to them this was another class. They could not skip a day just because you didnt felt like getting there the day. My first meeting with them, this is going be a lot of hard. A long day, nothing is going to go the way you wanted to write you might have to readjust, defeat, and is the job. Every day in the newsroom, is a little different. The departure from what we normally do. It was very unexpected but the most fun that i had of the project. That was a very important moment for us because we realized not only building it, our reporters will be putting the information into the tracking data. And added a level of depth to a story because it brings real characters and people into this. It shows how this issue is affecting. The reason i know i want to stay in journalism is because of the people aspect. Tremendously collaborative. This project would not have come up close to his successfully as it did without the role. Is really detailed data that showed the neighborhoods also have higher rates of poverty and we wanted to see if that played out across the country. We got the thermal images from nasa and combined that was that the data admitted of nothing 97 cities and towns that this link between cohesion lower income existed in almost all of them. Or people who said when the driver of the neighborhood, they can actually feel it cooling down the she drives. We did just ask them about the story but that was a backandforth pretty. Journalism now functions best when organizations, bring their resources together and Work Together to investigate and examine really weighty topics. I hope this project in addition to the things we learn will also teach our colleagues at baruch professional news organizations, that collaborating with student journalist is not something that they should be afraid of. It is something they should embrace. [applause]. Kathy and robert who will accept this award. [applause]. [background sounds]. Good evening. Im kathy best from the university of maryland ten risk, i would like to thank the National Press foundation for this amazing recognition of the collaboration and took a little bit of courage from our professional partners. Npr was the very best partner we could expect. I would also like to recognize the students at the university of maryland who made this possible. We can the nine of them tonight, when you nice enough place. [applause]. [applause]. I want to point out the some of them will be in the job market very soon. And others of them are in the job market right now. The industries on the hottest months of the hottest year ever recorded in baltimore. It was hot and sweaty and they did reporting, put sensors in peoples houses, they took photos, they took videos, they did deep Data Analysis and working with our partners it npr, they produced an unbelievable digital presentation for this work. We are incredibly of them. But we also think that this is part of what the future of journalism can look like. I would also like to thank in addition to our partners at npr, the Howard Foundation and the leadership at the university of manager maryland and the Maryland College of journalism for having the vision to make this possible. Thank you. [applause]. On think our producer megan anderson, and our digital producer, they were together to create some great radio for this project. I am bob with npr. We figured out the partnerships make this better. It is a good example of that action ungrateful of the university of maryland for recognizing that. And the wisdom of the howard center. And if i could, im an Old Newspaper guy and i spent some time fretting about the future my profession. I have to say that working on this project with my colleagues, and with the students of the university of maryland to see the enthusiasm and the talent and energy, the outrage, i think we will be okay. So congratulations to all my partners and thank you. [laughter]. The study aboard recognize regulations on local communities. The outstanding series of capture this years prize, was reported by christina, has been in effect on all this. She revealed the shocking 20 year effort by Major Medical equipment manufacturers to hide from doctors in the public, millions of cases of medical equipment malfunctions and advice related injuries. And since judges said they were stunned by the story. In the failure of federal regulation that revealed. Heres christina. [applause]. Thanks for the award. I like to think my editors, john Anna Elisabeth rosenthal who were just amazing and supporting when i did work on the story. This all started when i was talking to a source medical device arena. Itll be something that was a twist on what i understood about medical device injuries, and malfunction reporting. As far as i knew, everything was in a database called mod. But when she told me was it was not. There were exemptions that the fda gave to some Device Companies and they were able to file alternative summary reports with thousands of injuries and malfunction reports of years. On that this could not be true. Someone would have written about this already. Click on experts, biomechanical engineers who all they do is investigate what happened when someones one of them told me sort of died in the shower from a pacemaker that was implanted two days ago pretty none of them knew what i was talking about. So i started digging. With the public at every mention i could find of these alternative summary reports and pretty early on when to be of the, and asked how what are these and how many of these are there. And why were they granted. What the fda told me was the file of freedom information act. So i did. I filed it. What happened was i saw expedited reporting because im impatient like the average journalist, and im not patient it all. I was denied and i feel that i was denied again. And then they told me it would take 22 months to fulfill merit bus. So i kept asking questions and eventually when i found out was that in a couple of years nor more than a million of these reports file. Many of the more files regarding surgical staplers. They can sever a vessel and not feel the vessel. People bleed to death when devastating injuries quickly. So i flew to toledo and spent a day with the family, was let out after liver surgery and he didnt even notice and same. We wrote a story and eventually the fda told me that in a year, about 84 reports were available about surgical surgeries. There are actually about 1,030,000 in the database. And the power that story, but the fda to introduce basically review of surgical staplers. In june of that year, fda open this data. It was 5. 7 million records that accounted for 40 percent medical device malfunction injuries. So was a pretty good day for journalism. The power of the work that Kaiser Health workers doing the power of the free press. So i am very elated to accept the work. Thank you. [applause]. Is with great pleasure to present this years hadley editor of the year award. [applause]. Obviously as a cheering section. Miami harold media company, according to the judges, commitment to accountability journalism, brought Jeffrey Epstein