Memo from Editor of Congressional Quarterly

Congratulations ... I'm happy to announce that Jonathan Allen has won a National Press Club political journalism award for his CQ Weekly piece "Manifest Disparity," in which he dug into the development of appropriations earmarks and the way are doled out among members of Congress.

This multi-part magazine cover story -- 8,300 words in all -- ran in the Weekly last October after Jon sorted and crunched numbers from a taxpayer group that collected earmark figures from House-passed 2008 spending bills (but didn't sort them in a meaningful way).
His package examined the disparity in earmark distribution among members by race, by their relationship to House leaders, by politics and, in a fascinating story, by one's proximity to "Murtha's corner."
...
It was groundbreaking journalism, and a good read to boot. FYI, the award is the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism. It's given to journalists under 34, and this year marks the third time a CQ reporter has won it since its establishment in 1999. Jon will pick up the award at the Press Club on July 14. Congratulations to Jon and the rest of the enterprising team that helped plow this fertile journalistic ground.