The Mother Jones reporter who broke the now-infamous Mitt Romney “47 percent” story , considered by some to be a game-changer in the 2012 election, has won himself a Polk Award for journalism.
David Corn, Mother Jones ‘ Washington bureau chief, was among the winners of the 64th annual George Polk Awards in Journalism for his exposé of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s remarks that 47 percent of Americans “believe they are victims,” are “dependent upon the government” and would never “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Mother Jones broke the story in September, stalling Romney’s political campaign, perhaps beyond repair.
The winners were announced Monday by Long Island University, reports MSN . Among the winners were journalists from Bloomberg News, The New York Times, CBS News, McClatchy Newspapers, GlobalPost, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, the Maine Sunday Telegram, Frontline, and the nonprofit California Watch.
The Polk Award is one of the top prizes in US journalism. They were created in 1949 in honor of CBS reporter George W. Polk, who was killed while covering the Greek civil war.
This year’s announcement applauds Corn for the “years of high-impact journalism that helped lead him to the source of the recording,” and for the “persistent digging and careful negotiation” apparent in the story.
Congratulations to David Corn of Mother Jones for receiving the Polk Award. If nothing else, Romney’s “47 percent” was definitely the story of the 2012 election cycle, and for that, Corn is to be commended.