This year marks the 30th year that the Anderson School at UCLA
will present the Gerald Loeb Awards, and the fourth consecutive
year that the Anderson School Dean Bruce Willison will serve on the
awards’ judging panel.
Established in 1957, the Loeb Awards honor print and broadcast
business journalism.
The 14-member final judging panel meets today in New York to
review entries from 10 categories that include online media,
newspaper, magazine and commentary, and two broadcast journalism
categories.
This year’s awards received 383 entries ““ two shy of
the all-time record, said Mary Ann Lowe, secretary and program
manager for the G. and R. Loeb Foundation that sponsors the
awards.
Philip Little, media director at the Anderson School, said the
awards benefit the Anderson School by providing a forum through
which UCLA faculty and students can develop relationships with
leading figures in the fields of business and economics.
Judges and reporters involved with the awards met with UCLA
faculty and students for informal discussions a number of times
this year, Little said.
Richard Rodner, president of the G. and R. Loeb Foundation, said
the Anderson School’s association with the awards presents a
chance for UCLA to share with the business world what its students
and faculty are doing.
“The Loebs are considered the most prestigious honor in
business journalism and we feel that the awards provide us a
tremendous opportunity not only to be associated with the most
prestigious award, but to have an interaction with business
journalists from across the country and the world,” Rodner
said.
Willison said the awards benefit and impact people by
acknowledging journalism has an effect on people’s lives.
“When you sit and you read these stacks of stories,
it’s amazing … you get the sense about how much business
and finance impacts ever so many people’s daily lives,”
Willison said. “The stories relate to families that are
trying to save for tuition or to buy a station wagon or their first
house ““ they’re real issues.”
Something the judges look for, Willison said, is stories that
result in new legislation or important changes. Among other entries
this year, Willison said one that stands out is a story submitted
in the small newspapers category ““ a story about salmon
fishing in Alaska.
It was about “how the laws in Alaska really prevent the
local fisherman from competing against salmon fishermen from other
places … makes them totally uncompetitive,” Willison said.
“Changes were made in the state legislature that allowed them
to keep more jobs this year.”
Lowe added that the list of criteria judges use to examine the
entries includes originality, news value and quality of writing.
Judges on a preliminary panel examine all entries received and
produce lists of about five finalists that are then relayed to the
final judging committees to be reviewed.
Earlier this year, Steve Forbes, president and editor in chief
of Forbes Magazine and a final judge for the awards, spoke at the
Anderson School about the economy. The event generated a large
audience including many Anderson students and alumni.
“Having Steve Forbes here was a great thing to do … it
doesn’t just benefit the Anderson School, but it benefits the
entire community,” Little said.
The Gerald Loeb Awards were established in 1957 by Gerald Loeb,
a successful financier with a 40-year Wall Street career, in an
effort to help the general public by honoring business journalism –
a field that Loeb felt had the potential to effect people and
communities in important ways.
“Over the last fifteen years, business journalism has
moved from the back of the sports page to the front page,”
Willison said. “Recognizing quality in journalism inspires
everyone to do better.”