Contributors: Aug. 3, 1998

JIM WILLWERTH and CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY are two of the most recent TIME staff members to receive honors from the National Association of Black Journalists, a professional organization that annually recognizes excellence in “the media’s coverage of the African-American community and experience.” This week the two will be awarded the N.A.B.J.’s first-place prize for magazine writing for their Jan. 19 article, “Dead Teen Walking,” a sobering account of youngsters on death row. In their story Willwerth, a Los Angeles-based correspondent, and Farley, a senior writer, raised some troubling questions about the conduct of prosecutors in the trial of Shareef Cousin, a black New Orleans teenager convicted of murder and sentenced, at age 16, to death. In part because of their investigation, a Louisiana state supreme court has granted Cousin a new trial, tentatively scheduled for December. Says Willwerth: “Having the chance to help right an injustice is a precious thing. I feel very lucky that journalism gives me that chance.” Says Farley: “It was obvious this was a story that had to be written.” When not dealing with grim reality, Farley turns to fiction. His novel, My Favorite War, concerns a black newspaper reporter. It’s now in paperback.

For their March 30 cover story, “Africa Rising,” a survey of emerging African nations, news director MARGUERITE MICHAELS and senior foreign correspondent JOHANNA MCGEARY claimed the N.A.B.J.’s second-place award. Michaels says that after spending 12 years reporting on Africa, this article was “one of the most exciting and satisfying pieces of journalism I’ve ever done. It gave me the chance to share with TIME readers the vibrant, good-news part of Africa that rarely gets into print.”

DICK THOMPSON, our Washington-based science and medicine correspondent, heard about a dangerous E. coli outbreak in a small town in Wyoming and immediately did what federal health sleuths do: headed for the problem’s source. His on-the-scene reporting provided a vivid account of the ongoing war against lethal bacteria. Says writer Jeffrey Kluger, who worked from Thompson’s dispatches: “I didn’t get the sense of experiencing this story secondhand. It was really like being there.” Thompson was impressed by the combination of methodology and intuition of state and federal epidemiologists: “They spent hours on the phone tracking down anyone who had been through the town, then feeding reams of information into their computers. Because of their work, they may prevent similar outbreaks.”

MARK THOMPSON, another Washington correspondent, has spent the past 20 years reporting on the U.S. military. But last October, when a former Pentagon whistle blower tipped him off to deaths by negligence in California nursing homes, the Pulitzer prizewinner plunged in and broke the story for TIME. His reporting also helped prompt the government to take action. Last week President Clinton ordered stricter regulation of nursing homes, and this week the Senate will hold hearings on the matter. Thompson says the hearings are an important chance for Americans to become more aware of the awful conditions in some of the nation’s nursing homes. His second installment of this sordid tale appears this week. And if nursing-home operators fail to meet the stricter regulations, you can bet there will be a third.

ANN BLACKMAN was reporting a story in Maine when she learned of one town’s unique approach to containing health costs. It’s the subject of this week’s AMERICAN SCENE. Blackman, yet another Washington-based correspondent (they do get around, don’t they?), describes Maine as a “glorious, crystal-clear state where everyone is nice to each other and honest. I found it to be a lovely change from the Capitol.” That’s not necessarily a reflection on all of official Washington. Blackman just finished writing Seasons of Her Life, a biography of Secretary of State Madeline Albright, which will be released this fall by Simon & Schuster/Scribner. Blackman has known Albright since 1984, when the future Secretary worked on Geraldine Ferraro’s vice-presidential campaign, and promises some revelations in the book.