CPI-ABC black lung series wins Loeb award

Introduction

A Center for Public Integrity/ABC News investigation of the flawed federal benefits system for coal miners with black lung has won a Gerald Loeb award for business reporting.

The project, “Breathless and Burdened,” was honored in the investigative reporting category at a ceremony in New York on Tuesday evening. Named on the award were Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene, formerly of the Center; CPI’s Jim Morris and Chris Zubak-Skees; and ABC’s Brian Ross and Matthew Mosk.

The investigation, which also won the Pulitzer Prize and the Goldsmith award from Harvard University, revealed how ailing miners have been deprived of modest benefits by a law firm and doctors hired by coal companies. It has resulted in significant policy reforms.

The Loeb awards, presented by UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, were established in 1957 by the late Gerald Loeb, a founding partner of the investment firm E.F. Hutton.

Other news organizations honored include the Tampa Bay Times, the New York Times, the Huffington Post and Bloomberg.

Congratulations to all of the Gerald Loeb Award winners, which are listed here.