Hunter College's Department of Film and Media Studies presented the James Aronson Lifetime Achievement Award to Les Payne, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist for career achievement. Winners for investigative reporting included E. J. Graff, of Foreign Policy, Joseph Huff-Hannon, of The Indypendent, and Nick Turse, of the Nation.  

Kevin Buckley of Newsweek was also honored at the Thursday ceremony with an Aronson Award for reporting he did in Vietnam during the 1970s that had been largely buried until it was resurrected by Nick Turse.  

Danny Schechter of NewsDissector.org won the Aronson Blog Award for his muckraking reports on economic, political and social issues.

Ed Stein won the Aronson Award for Cartooning with a Conscience for his graphic commentary on the economy, torture and other critical issues of 2008.

The Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism (filmmedia.hunter.cuny.edu/aronson) have been presented since 1990 to journalists who measure business, government and social affairs against clear ideals of the common good. The awards are named in honor of James Aronson, the distinguished Hunter College professor of journalism who was editor from 1949 to 1967 of the crusading newsweekly The National Guardian. Aronson also worked on the staffs of the Boston Evening Transcript, New York Herald Tribune and New York Times.

“In their 19 years of existence,” said Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab, “the James Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism have consistently recognized and promoted journalism that keeps a well-trained and principled eye on the common good. That is a mission that Hunter, as a public institution with a diverse student body, tried to pursue throughout its research and teaching.”

“Journalism that conveys a clear idea of forces and decisions that lead to injustice has never been more needed than it is today," said Peter Parisi, coordinator of the award and an associate professor in Hunter’s Department of Film and Media Studies. “Yet too often journalists duck social justice issues, fearing their commitment will be called partisan or will draw political ‘flak’. This award is designed to embolden them to pursue their highest ideals.”

Payne was cited for his career as an editor, manager and columnist for Newsday. “Over the years, Payne has been variously recognized as the most influential African-American editor and columnist in the United States,” said Blanca Vasquez, during her introduction. “Murray Kempton described him as “a great editor because he is always his own man.” He trained generations of reporters to cover the basics and to dig deeper; his news staffs won every major award in journalism, including six Pulitzer Prizes.”