After the Fire

March 1, 2001 by Robin Gaby Fisher, Matt Rainey

2001 Preliminary Judges

David Boardman is an Assistant Managing Editor of The Seattle Times, with oversight of investigative and computer-assisted reporting, the Sports and Business departments, news research and the newspaper's legal matters. He has directed two Pulitzer Prize-winning team projects: an investigation of abuses in the federal tribal-housing program (1997 Pulitzer for investigative reporting), and coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and its aftermath (1990 Pulitzer for national reporting); three other stories he edited were Pulitzer finalists. Boardman has received other major national awards, including the Goldsmith Prize in Investigative Reporting from Harvard University, the Worth Bingham Prize in Investigative Reporting, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and the Associated Press Managing Editors Public Service Award. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors. Boardman graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and has a graduate degree from the University of Washington.

Jason Cubert is a second year Master's student at the University of Washington School of Communications. It is also his second year as a Research Assistant for the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma. While his personal scholarship concerns itself with alternative media, identity, and cultural studies, Jason's work with the Dart Center has focused primarily on newspaper coverage of domestic violence fatalities in Washington State, following up that study by questioning journalists about their approaches to DV coverage. Cubert is currently interested in shedding light on the oft-ignored phenomenon of domestic violence in same sex relationships.

Mike Henderson has been a lecturer at the University of Washington School of Communications since 1994. He teaches journalism-skills courses and is director of the School's News Lab student news bureau. Prior to arriving at the UW, Henderson was an editor and columnist at The Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Everett Herald, Eugene Register-Guard and Anchorage Daily Times. He continues to publish newspaper articles and reviews. Among the publishers of his approximately 4,500 articles are Newsday, the Los Angeles Times and others. He also is co-author of several books, including "Why I Am an Abortion Doctor" (Prometheus, 1996). Henderson's awards include a 1991 humor-writing honor from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. He is anthologized in "The Best of the Rest," featuring columns by American newspaper writers.

Phuong Le is a reporter at the Seattle Post Intelligencer, covering neighborhoods and civic issues for the past two years. She has also worked for the San Jose Mercury News, reporting on education, and has covered crime and courts for the Chicago Tribune. Phuong Le grew up in California, and holds a BA in English at UCLA and an MA in Education at the University of Michigan.

Cindi Sinnema was victim advocate and Program Coordinator for Separation and Loss Services at Virginia Mason Medical Center (1992-1998). Her primary responsibility was contacting families following homicides in King County, and providing assistance with Crime Victim's Compensation, the criminal justice system, and media interaction. She also facilitated support groups for survivors, as well as education and support services to workplace, church, school, or community groups following a violent death. Prior to that job, Sinnema was Outreach Coordinator for Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims (1990-1992), and held an Internship with the Seattle Police Department Victim Witness Unit. She is a 1990 University of Washington graduate.

 

2001 Final Judges

Betty Winston Baye is an editorial writer and nationally syndicated columnist for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, KY. Other positions she has held since 1984 include metro reporter, assistant city editor, and assistant neighborhoods editor. Previously, she covered urban affairs for the Daily Argus in Mount Vernon, NY. Baye holds a masters degree from Columbia University School of Journalism. She was a 1990-91 Nieman Fellow, and has taught at Hunter College and at the Poynter Institute. Among her honors are Best of Gannett (column-writing), NABJ Region VI Hall of Fame Award, and Black Achiever of the Chestnut Street YMCA. A former off-Broadway actress, Baye has hosted and produced a public affairs and African American cultural showcase, “The Betty Baye Show” since 1995. She is the author of the novel, The Africans (1983) and Blackbird (August Press, 2000), a collection of columns and original essays. Baye is past national vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists, a charter member of The William Monroe Trotter group (a collective of African American opinion writers), and is founder of the Black Alumni Network at Columbia University School of Journalism.

John Briere, Ph.D. is president-elect of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. He is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Director of the Psychological Trauma Clinic at LAC-USC Medical Center, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. Briere is author of a number of books, articles, and chapters in the areas of child abuse, psychological trauma, and interpersonal violence. Recent books include Psychological Assessment of Adult Posttraumatic States (American Psychological Association), Therapy for Adults Molested as Children: Beyond Survival, Second Edition , and Child Abuse Trauma: Theory and Treatment of the Lasting Effects . He is co-editor of the APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment , and author of two standardized psychological tests, the Trauma Symptom Inventory and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children, as well as four new tests in progress with Psychological Assessment Resources. Briere is a recent recipient of the Laufer Memorial Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and the Outstanding Professional Award from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. He provides consultation on clinical, forensic, and scientific issues to various groups and governmental agencies.

David Handschuh is President of the National Press Photographers Association. He has been a staff photographer at the New York Daily News for 14 years. Before that he was on staff at The New York Post and freelanced for the Associated Press, The New York Times, and other daily and weekly publications. Handschuh has been nominated three times for a Pulitzer Prize, and has received numerous awards for photography from the Pictures of the Year Competition, The New York Press Photographer's Association, The New York Press Club, Society of Silurians, and many police, fire and EMS organizations. Handschuh was a 1999 Dart Fellow, and continues to work with that group to formulate a Critical Incident Response Team for Photojournalists exposed to work-related traumatic situations. He is an adjunct professor at New York University, and co-author of The National Media Guide for Disaster and Emergency Incidents. Handschuh lectures often to photography and civic groups and to public safety agencies on photojournalism, news and feature photography, and on ways to improve the relationship between the media and public safety providers.

Sonia Nazario is urban affairs writer for the Los Angeles Times. She previously worked for the Wall Street Journal as a staff reporter covering social issues and Latin America, as a summer intern for The Washington Post, and as a reporter for El Pais (Madrid, Spain). Nazario received a 1994 (team) Pulitzer Prize for local reporting of spot news, presented to the staff of The Times for coverage of the first day of the Los Angeles earthquake. She was a Pulitzer finalist in 1998 for “Orphans of Addiction,” a series for which she received a National Council on Crime and Delinquency PASS Award, a Greater Los Angeles Press Club-40th Annual Southern California Journalism award for feature reporting, first place for Investigative and Enterprise reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, and a Times Mirror Chairman's Award, among others. In 1997-98, for “Suicidal Tendencies: When Kids See Death as an Answer,” she received a Life-Time Award and a commendation from the American Psychiatric Association. Others include a 1996 Los Angeles Times Editorial Award for “Driven to Extremes: Life in the Antelope Valley,” and a George Polk Award for Local Reporting in 1994 for “The Hunger Wars—Fighting for Food in Southern California.” Nazario has a master's degree in Latin American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Susan Russell is Project Coordinator with Vermont Victim Services 2000, a national demonstration project to improve the range, quality, and accessibility of services to all crime victims in the state. A survivor of violent crime, Russell has been active in victim services since the mid-1990s. She was a Victim Advocate at Addison County Women in Crisis, served as Chair of the Sexual Violence Task Force of the VT Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and currently serves as a consultant to the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). In 1998 she was appointed by Governor Howard Dean to serve as the victim representative on the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services' Victim Compensation Board; she has also served on the Vermont Network Legislative Committee (1996-1999) and was appointed by the Commissioner of Corrections to the Addison County Reparative Probation Board (1998-1999). Russell has spoken at workshops and conferences in Vermont, Toronto, Hawaii, and at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1995 she was awarded Outstanding Victim Advocacy and Awareness by the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services and the VT Network. Russell holds an M.A. in Public Policy from Norwich University.