Posted Apr. 29, 2008
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism has given the 2008 Mike Berger Award for in-depth, human-interest reporting to Michael Paulson, the religion reporter at The Boston Globe, for "Ma Siss's Place," his four-part series on a Dorchester church.
The series tells the story of Idene "Ma Siss" Wilkerson, a mother of four who grew up poor in rural Alabama and set out to start and nurture a church in a dilapidated former auto repair shop in Uphams Corner. The series weaves together her story with that of her church, her faith, and her neighborhood.
"Michael Paulson's powerful series on the life and times of a small Boston church and its congregants represents newspaper writing at its best," the Berger Committee, comprising journalism faculty members, said in a statement.
The award was established in 1960 by Louis Schweitzer, a New York industrialist, to recognize reporting in the tradition of Myron "Mike" Berger, a New York Times reporter who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting in 1950 and who was known for his thought-provoking reporting on the lives of ordinary people.
"Poignant, insightful, and unsparing in what it tells about faith, doubt, struggle, and redemption, it is work that does the tradition of Meyer Berger proud," the Berger Committee said of Paulson's series.
Finalists for the award included Ellen Barry of The New York Times and Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times. Past recipients include Dan Barry of The New York Times and Abigail Tucker of The Baltimore Sun.
Nicholas Lemann, dean of the journalism school, is scheduled to present Paulson with the award and a $1,000 honorarium at the school's annual Journalism Day celebration on May 20.
A former reporter at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Paulson was a member of the Globe team that was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church. He also is a four-time recipient of the Wilbur Award, which is given by The Religion Communicators Council in recognition of outstanding coverage of religion in the secular media.
Ma Siss's Place can be read at boston.com/news/specials/masiss/.
