Deadline for Bruce Baer Award Entries is April 12

PORTLAND – Nominations for the annual Bruce Baer Award – Oregon journalism’s top prize – will be accepted until April 12, 2013.

            Since 1978, the Baer Award, which carries a $1,000 prize, has been given in recognition of Oregon’s finest investigative and public affairs journalism. Any work published or broadcast in 2012 may be nominated.

            Stories submitted for the award are judged on the quality of reporting, as well as the enterprise and courage reflected in the work. Nigel Jaquiss of Willamette Week won the Baer Award last year for “A Bridge Too False,” a series of articles that examined claims made by advocates of the Columbia River Cross project, which proposes to build a new I-5 bridge between Portland and Vancouver.

            Further information about the award can be found at http://brucebaer.uoregon.edu/. There, you will also find an application form to submit with your entry (http://brucebaer.uoregon.edu/application/Bruce%20Baer2010.pdf).

            The prize is to be presented at the annual awards banquet hosted by the Greater Oregon Society of Professional Journalists on May 18.

Entries should be submitted to:

Christopher Broderick
University Communications
Portland State University
PO Box 751
Portland, OR 97207

            We also ask that links to online versions of the stories be included.
            The award is in memory of Bruce Baer, who was dean of the Oregon Capitol press corps when he died of cancer at age 40. He had worked for daily newspapers and radio stations in the Pacific Northwest prior to spending 13 years at KATU (2) in Portland.

            Questions can be directed to Gary White (503-201-0322) or Doug Yocom (503-744-0521)

Download the entry/nomination form

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Announcing the 2010 Bruce Baer Award Winners

FOR COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING SERIES

PORTLAND – Nigel Jacquiss of Willamette Week has won the Bruce Baer Award – Oregon’s top prize for investigative reporting.

Jacquiss was honored for “A Bridge Too False” and five succeeding stories published since June of 2011.   The award was presented Saturday evening during the annual Greater Oregon Society of Professional Journalists banquet, held at the Hotel Deluxe in downtown  Portland.

The series examined a series of claims made by advocates of the Columbia River Crossing project, which proposes to build a new I-5 bridge between Portland and Vancouver.  Jacquiss’ research found that a number of studies about traffic patterns on and over the Columbia River conflicted with claims made by proponents of the project.  He also discovered that in many cases, data included in the project-planning team’s own documents undermined the claims made by its advocates.

In addition, Jacquiss tracked the spiraling cost estimates for the CRC project and reported on flaws in the project’s financing plan.

Four-time honoree

This is the fourth time that Jacquiss has been honored by the Baer Award committee.  In 2005, Jacquiss won the first-place award for his work in uncovering former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt’s sexual abuse of a teen-age girl while he was mayor of Portland in the 1970s.  Jacquiss also won a Pulitzer Prize for that story. 

He also was given Special Recognition in 2002 and 2003 for stories about contamination at Whitaker Middle School in Northeast Portland, and the financial irregularities of former Lewis & Clark College president Michael Mooney.

 (Questions can be directed to Roger Anthony at 503-998-5509.)