Tomorrow (Thursday, April 16) the 2009 Ridenhour Book Prize will be awarded to Jane Mayer for her definitive account of the Bush Administration’s descent into torture. The award ceremony is at noon at the National Press Club in Washington, and I will be offering a brief tribute to Jane on this occasion. The event is open to the public and Harper’s readers are welcome to attend. Other Ridenhour Prize recipients are Bob Herbert (Prize for Courage), former Justice Department lawyer Thomas Tamm (Prize for Truth-Telling), and Nick Turse (Prize for Reportorial Distinction). The National Press Club is located at 529 14th Street, N.W.
Sherry Jones has won this year’s RFK Award for domestic journalism for her superlative documentary, which PBS was reluctant to show before Bush left office. From the announcement:
Meticulous reporting unravels the inside story of how torture was adopted by the U.S. government as official policy in the aftermath of 9/11. With exclusive interviews, explosive documents and rare archival footage, the documentary has been called the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history.
More info on “Torturing Democracy” is available here.
