Last update - 00:00 19/12/2007
Two Haaretz writers win Sokolow Prize for Journalism
By Asaf Carmel, Haaretz Correspondent
This year's Sokolow Prize for Journalism was presented Tuesday to Uri Klein (Haaretz), Ran Reznick (Haaretz), Shlomi Eldar (Channel 10 television) and Yaron London (Channel 10). The ceremony was held at the Einav Cultural Center in Tel Aviv.
Klein, who has been Haaretz's film critic for the past 20 years, was feted for his life's work. In their decision, the judges praised his "professional approach, quality writing and stubborn refusal to give in to processes of popularization and the pressure of lowered standards."
Reznick, Haaretz's health reporter, received the award for having uncovered a series of medical corruption cases, including doctors who demanded bribes from patients in order to perform operations, cases of criminal negligence and "attempts by the medical establishment and the Health Ministry to whitewash all this and cover it up," the judges wrote. Several of his reports led to criminal indictments.
Eldar, who is Channel 10's Arab affairs reporter, won the prize for his coverage of events in Gaza, and particularly his "exposure of the human sides of those involved in the conflict. In this way, he gives the public pictures of a complex reality that is not always comfortable to watch," the judges said.
London, who has worked in radio as well as television, also won the prize for his life's work. "In all his work, both as a studio presenter and in his documentaries, he was noteworthy for his curiousity and inquiring approach, always accompanied by irony and criticism," the judges wrote.