With the announcement of the Pulitzer recipients not far away (April 14th)-it occurred to me that when the winners and finalists are announced-a great many readers might not have been aware, let alone have read, many of these prize-winning works of journalism.
So, as a run-up to the official announcement, DailyNewsGems.com, will be highlighting some outstanding works of journalism, worthy of Pulitzer consideration.
-Bill Lucey
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Shawn Boburg, who covers the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for The Record of Northern New Jersey, reported exclusively on September 19, 2013 of an unannounced shift in traffic on the George Washington Bridge, a shift which reduced lanes for Fort Lee (Bergen County, New Jersey borough) residents from three down to one, causing extensive backups for four days and triggering sharp questions whether the traffic tie-ups were politically motivated.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, told The Record he speculated the GWB lane closures was a spiteful payback for not endorsing Governor Chris Christie in his gubernatorial re-election bid. http://goo.gl/BF4nlg
The lane closures, once treated as nothing more than a local brouhaha, quickly erupted into a national scandal, when a cache of private messages, first reported on January 9, 2014, by The Record, linked Governor Christie’s office to the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, exposing the 55th governor of the Garden State as a vindictive bully, at least in some eyes, and arguably delivering a fatal blow to his presidential hopes for 2016.
``Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, one of three deputy chiefs of staff for Christie, wrote on Aug. 13. The recipient of the e-mail was David Wildstein, a longtime political operative who went to high school with the governor and was hired to be the governor’s eyes and ears at the Port Authority. Wildstein, who ordered the closures three weeks after the message and resigned, last month amid the escalating scandal, wrote back: “Got it.” http://goo.gl/3bVO8u
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If you’re aware of any outstanding works of journalism that you would like to see included at DailyNewsGems, send links to Bill Lucey at wplucey@gmail.com
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