Awarded annually by George Polk judges for exceptional long-form investigative or enterprise journalism. Articles must be at least 5,000 words in length and represent highly distinguished, deep coverage of armed conflicts; local, state or Federal government corruption; military injustice; war crimes, genocide or sedition; or authoritarian government abuses. The prize honors the legendary New York Times and Newsday reporter/columnist and is funded by his widow, Jane Freiman Schanberg.
Submission details
For over 70 years, LIU has been the proud home of the George Polk Awards in Journalism, the first major award of its kind to recognize reporting across all media. This prestigious honor focuses on the intrepid, bold, and influential work of the reporters themselves, placing a premium on investigative work that is original, resourceful, and thought-provoking. Among the many journalism greats who are Polk laureates are Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Christiane Amanpour, I.F. Stone, Isabel Wilkerson, James Baldwin, Russell Baker, Norman Mailer, Seymour Hersh, and more.
The George Polk awards are conferred annually to honor special achievement in journalism. Winners are chosen from newspapers, magazines, television, radio and online news organizations. Judges place a premium on investigative work that is original, requires digging and resourcefulness, and brings results.
In May 1948, while covering the civil war in Greece between the authoritarian government and the communists, CBS correspondent George Polk's body turned up floating in a bay, hands and feet bound, shot at point-blank range in the head.
John Darnton, Curator
Ralph Engelman, Faculty Coordinator
Attn: Ralph Engelman
The George Polk Awards
Ralph.Engelman@liu.edu
