Congressional Quarterly’s Tim Starks Wins the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism
Washington, D.C. (July 17, 2009) — Congressional Quarterly Inc., the nation’s premier provider of news, analysis and information on Congress, politics and public policy, today announced that Tim Starks has won the 2009 National Press Club’s Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism. Starks is the fourth CQ reporter to win the Hume award since it was established in 1999.
Starks’ piece, “A Dome Under Lock and Key,” featured in CQ Weekly, provides a catalog of every kind of secretive behavior practiced by Congress. It also weighs the uses and value of congressional secrecy against history and the other branches. The story is available at http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=weeklyreport-000002992032.
“While others have touched on the topic of congressional secrecy, no one has given it greater scrutiny than Tim,” said Mike Riley, senior vice president and editor of CQ. “He spent the better part of a month reporting and writing the story after accumulating years’ worth of data.”
The award is named in memory of Sandy Hume, the reporter for The Hill who broke the story of the aborted 1997 coup against House Speaker Newt Gingrich. It honors excellence and objectivity in political coverage by reporters 34 years old or younger for either a single story of great distinction or for continuing coverage of one political topic.
Starks joined CQ in 2003 after having founded, and served as a correspondent, for the Washington bureau of the New York Sun. Previously, as The Statehouse Bureau Chief for the Evansville Courier & Press, he received with another reporter the 2001 Associated Press Managing Editors 1st place award for non-deadline news reporting. CQ’s Jonathan Allen won the Hume award in 2008, representing back-to-back wins for CQ.
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With more than 160 reporters, editors and researchers covering Capitol Hill and Washington, CQ keeps its readers updated in print and online on a weekly, daily and real-time basis. With a readership that includes nearly every member of Congress, as well as Executive Branch officials, leaders in business and associations, top academic institutions and important media outlets, Congressional Quarterly provides opinion leaders comprehensive, credible, current and objective information on Congress, politics and public policy. CQ’s award-winning product line includes: CQ Weekly, CQ Today, CQ.com, CQ Homeland Security, CQ Budget Tracker, CQ HealthBeat, CQ MoneyLine, CQ Politics, Governing Magazine and a line of books and directories under the CQ Press imprint. CQ is owned by the Times Publishing Co. of St. Petersburg, Fla., publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and other publications. For more information, visit www.cq.com or www.cqpolitics.com.