(NOTE: Each link opens in a new window)
May 20, 2003

NEW YORK (AP) - ABC correspondent John Stossel and producer Kristina Kendall won a $10,000 prize from a media watchdog group for a special about media scare stories like road rage and shark attacks.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs gives the annual prize to reporters that critically evaluate the work of other journalists.

Stossel's ABC News special "debunked the conventional wisdom before a very large audience in a timely fashion," Matthew Felling, spokesman for the center, said Tuesday.

The group also gave $1,000 prizes to Brendan Nyhan of Salon.com for a story about the National Education Association teaching about Sept. 11, and to Allan Wolper of Editor & Publisher for a column about the relationship between Chicago police and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Stossel, who said he was donating his portion of the award to the Central Park Conservancy, said it was nice to be recognized.

"It always makes me extra nervous when I'm critical of my peers because I know they strike back," said the "20/20" anchor.

The center's prize, in its second year, is funded by Florida businessman Paul Mongerson.

BACK TO THE TOP