AHCJ members Paul Kleyman, the ethnic elders editor at New America Media, and Sarah Varney, of KQED-FM, were recently honored by the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in its 2009 Excellence in Journalism Awards.
Kleyman, who has dedicated much of his career to in-depth coverage of aging and the elderly, received the Distinguished Service Award. For more than 20 years, he served as editor of Aging Today, the newspaper of the American Society on Aging.
A frequent speaker on the coverage of aging, Kleyman founded and served as national coordinator for Journalists Exchange on Aging, a network of reporters covering aging and health care. The exchange, recently reorganized as the Journalists Network on Generations, delivers a weekly newsletter to 1,100 reporters nationwide.
Varney won the broadcast award in the investigative journalism category for “Chemicals at Home – Unknown Substitutes.”
According to SPJ, “Varney’s report revealed that a new state ban on phthalates, used for soft plastic children’s toys in particular, does not address the safety of the chemical substitutes that take their place – and companies aren’t required to identify them. Judges praised the report for embracing the medium of radio along with a subject matter that affects people profoundly.”
