American Bar Association Invites Entries For the 61st Annual Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts @ABAesq

The American Bar Association invites entries for the 2017 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts. Below is information about the process from the ABA.

The nine eligible categories include: books, magazines, newspapers, commentary, drama and literature, documentaries, television, radio, or multimedia. 
All entries must have been originally published, produced, or presented in the 2017 calendar year.

Distinguished past awardees include:
- Sidney Lumet’s jury room drama Twelve Angry Men- PBS Fred Friendly series “The Constitution: That Delicate Balance”
- Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action (Random House)
- Serial: Season One- Making a Murderer- Matthew Desmond's Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Crown)

The entry deadline is January 8, 2018.

Here is a link to the guidelines and the entry form.

ABA Announces 2015 Silver Gavel Awards Finalists

The ABA has released the list of finalists for the 2015 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts. Here are the names in all categories. The winners of the Silver Gavel in each category will be announced on May 13th.

BOOKS

“Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison”
Nell Bernstein, Author
The New Press
“The Case Against the Supreme Court” Erwin Chemerinsky, Author
Viking/Penguin Books
“Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution” Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz, Authors
Henry Holt and Company

MAGAZINES
“The Murders at the Lake”
Michael Hall, Executive Editor
Texas Monthly

NEWSPAPERS
“No Relief”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Cary Spivak, Reporter
“Till Death Do Us Part”
The Post and Courier Glenn Smith, Projects Editor
Doug Pardue, Projects Reporter
Jennifer Berry Hawes, Faith and Values Reporter
Natalie Caula Hauff, Reporter

DOCUMENTARIES
“Stop” Stop Productions
Spencer Wolff, Director/Producer
“The Case Against 8” Tripod Media
Ben Cotner and Ryan White, Directors/Producers
Jessica Lawson, Co-Producer

TELEVISION
“15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story”
American Documentary/POV
Nadine Pequeneza, Director/Producer
Chris White, Vice President, Programming and Production
Simon Kilmurry, Executive Producer
Cynthia Lopez, Co-Executive Producer
“The New Black”
Promised Land Film
Yoruba Richen, Producer/Director
Yvonne Welbon, Producer
Angela Tucker, Co-Producer

RADIO
“Serial: Season One”
Serial
Julie Snyder, Executive Producer
Sarah Koenig, Host and Executive Producer
Dana Chivvis, Producer
“60 Words”
Radiolab WNYC
Jad Adumrad, Host/Editor
Robert Krulwich, Host
Kelsey Padgett, Producer

OTHER MEDIA
“Segregation Now: Investigating America’s Racial Divide”
ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones, Investigative Reporter
Minhee Cho, Communications Manager
Jeff Larson, Data Editor
Maisie Crow, Independent Documentary Filmmaker
“Profiting from Prisoners: Time is Money”
The Center for Public Integrity
Eleanor Bell, Multimedia Editor
Daniel Wagner, Reporter

American Bar Association Announces 2011 Gavel Award Winners

From an ABA press release:

The American Bar Association announced today its selections for the 54th presentation of the Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts, which recognize outstanding work that fosters the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system. This is the ABA’s highest honor in recognition of this purpose.

The ABA will present six Silver Gavels and two honorable mentions from the nearly 200 entries received in all eligible categories, which include: books, magazines, newspapers, commentary, drama and literature, documentaries, television, radio and websites.

Selection criteria includes: how the entry addresses the Gavel Awards’ purpose and objectives; educational value of legal information or issues treated; impact on, or outreach to, the public; thoroughness and accuracy in presentation of issues; creativity and originality in approach to subject matter and effectiveness of presentation; and demonstrated technical skill in production of entry.


The awards presentation will be July 19 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Dan Abrams, legal analyst for ABC News, will be the featured speaker.


The following is a complete list of winners with a short description of their work:



MAGAZINES

Silver Gavel

Profiting from Fallen Soldiers

Bloomberg Markets

New York

David Evans, Senior Writer


“Fallen Soldiers’ Families Denied Cash as Insurers Profit” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-28/fallen-soldiers-families-denied-cash-payout-as-life-insurers-boost-profit.html

“Veterans Agency Made Secret Deal Over Benefits” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-14/veterans-agency-arranged-secret-deal-with-prudential-over-soldier-benefits.html

“Taxpayer-Funded Profits” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-30/taxpayer-funded-profits.html



Exposes how life insurance companies have profited from death benefits owed to families of service members and other government employees, examining causes and consequences.


NEWSPAPERS

Silver Gavel

Hounded: Debtors and the New Breed of Collectors

Star Tribune

Minneapolis

Chris Serres, Business Reporter

Glenn Howatt, CAR Reporter

www.startribune.com/hounded

A six-part series that explores recent changes in the debt collection industry, reveals how people with unpaid bills are being jailed, and examines consumer protection and regulation.

Honorable Mention

Detention Dilemma

ProPublica

New York, New York

Dafna Linzer, Senior Reporter

Chisun Lee, Reporter

Krista Kjellman Schmidt, Deputy Editor of News Applications

www.propublica.org/detention

A series of 14 articles about detention policies at Guantanamo under the Obama administration, which also considers the role of the federal courts and Congress.


RADIO

Silver Gavel

Bonding for Profit

National Public Radio

Washington, D.C.

Laura Sullivan, Correspondent

Steven Drummond, Editor

http://www.npr.org/series/122954677/behind-the-bail-bond-system

A three-part investigation into the bail bond process in the U.S. criminal justice system.



TELEVISION

Silver Gavel

The Lord is Not on Trial Here Today

Jay Rosenstein Productions

Champaign, Illinois

Jay Rosenstein, Producer, Writer, Director, Photographer

Jude Leak, Editor

Wendy Blackstone, Composer

David Ogden Stiers, Narrator

http://www.jayrosenstein.com/pages/lord.html


A one-hour PBS film that tells the compelling personal story that led to a landmark 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision on the separation of church and state in public schools, McCollum v. Board of Education.



DOCUMENTARIES

Silver Gavel

A Call to Act: Ledbetter v. Goodyear

The Documentary Group

New York

Robe Imbriano, Producer, Writer, Director

http://www.thedocumentarygroup.com/featuredProject.php?pid=73

A 22-minute documentary that tells the contemporary story of Lilly Ledbetter, who took her fight for fair pay through the U.S. court system and the halls of Congress.

BOOKS

Silver Gavel

Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices

Twelve/Hachette Book Group

New York

Noah Feldman, Author

http://www.twelvebooks.com/books/scorpions.asp



Author Noah Feldman offers a group biography of Franklin Roosevelt’s four greatest Supreme Court Justices: Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter and Robert Jackson.



Honorable Mention

The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr

Pittsburgh

Crown Publishers

Ken Gormley, Author

http://www.amazon.com/Death-American-Virtue-Clinton-Starr/dp/0307409449



Presents a historical narrative and analysis of the events leading up to the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.



With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.