Syracuse University

Twenty-three finalists have been announced in seven categories in the first ever Mirror Awards competition honoring excellence in media industry reporting. The competition drew 140 entries. The media's top writers, readers and leaders will gather June 14 at 11:45 a.m. at W New York (541 Lexington Ave., New York City) to fete the winners.

Finalists include:

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Best Single Article

• "Al Jazeera's Global Mission," Linda Tischler, Fast Company
  
• "Blogs to Riches," Clive Thompson, New York Magazine
  
• "The Day the News Left Town," Katherine Seelye, The New York Times
  
• "Google's China Problem (And China's Google Problem)," Clive Thompson, The New York Times Magazine
  
• "Dividing Lines: Why Book Industry Sees the World Split Still by Race," Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal
  

Best Commentary

• "The Imperial City," Kurt Andersen, New York Magazine
  
• "The Media Equation," David Carr, The New York Times
  
• "Media Misfires," Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post
  

Best Coverage of Breaking Industry News

• "Why Journalists Risk Their Lives to Cover Iraq," John M. Higgins and Allison Romano, Broadcasting & Cable
  
• "Critics Question Reporter's Airing of Personal Views," David Folkenflik, National Public Radio
  
• "A Local Newspaper Endures a Story Backlash," Dean Miller, Neiman Reports
  

Best Profile

• "Life With Brian," Rachel Smolkin, American Journalism Review
  
• "Mad as Hell: Lou Dobbs's Populist Crusade," Ken Auletta, The New Yorker
  
• "A Guy Named Craig," Philip Weiss, New York Magazine
  

Best Subject-Related Series

• "Among the Audience: A Survey of New Media," Andreas Kluth, The Economist
  
• "Mixing, Matching and Multi-Media," Joe Strupp, Editor & Publisher
  
• "Viacom Coverage," Brooks Barnes and Matthew Karnitschnig, The Wall Street Journal
  

EDITORS OR TEAMS OF WRITERS

Excellence in Media Information Services

• Benton's Communication-related Headlines, Benton Foundation
  
• Mediabistro.com
  
• HealthNewsReview.org, University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communications
  

Overall Excellence

• Three issues of American Journalism Review
  
• "Reliable Sources - Turning a Critical Lens on the Media 2006," CNN
  
• "America's Investigative Reports," Thirteen/WNET New York
  

The Mirror Awards, established by Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, are the first of their kind. Meredith Vieira, co-anchor of NBC's morning news program "Today," will serve as emcee of the awards luncheon. Peter Bart, editor in chief of Variety, will receive the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.

Luncheon committee co-chairs for the event include Rob Light, partner, Creative Artists; Judy McGrath, chairman and CEO, MTV Networks; Ron Meyer, president and COO, Universal Studios; Aaron Sorkin, writer; and Jeff Zucker, president and CEO, NBC Universal.

For more information about the Mirror Awards or to reserve a table at the June 14 luncheon, see
http://mirrorawards.syr.edu or contact Catherine Gay Communications at (212) 501-7231
or mirror@cgcomgroup.com.

For press information, contact Wendy Loughlin at (315) 443-2785 or
wsloughl@syr.edu.