The State wins award for its Hunley series

From Staff Reports

The State newspaper has won the 2006 APME First Amendment award for articles detailing public spending on projects related to the Hunley submarine.

News columnist John Monk and The State were honored in the midsized circulation category by the Associated Press Managing Editors organization.

The State’s three-day series, published in May, employed the Freedom of Information Act and old-fashioned, shoe-leather reporting in pursuit of answers to a simple question: How much public money has been spent or is expected to be spent to restore and display the Hunley?

The series took readers inside South Carolina government, the Legislature and Clemson University to show how relationships and power figured into Hunley spending.

“The discovery and restoration of the Hunley stirred the imaginations of readers in South Carolina and beyond,” said Mark E. Lett, executive editor of The State. “The history and emotion surrounding the Hunley has been well documented.

“Less understood was how the bills would be paid and whether government officials were providing the right kind of oversight. John Monk’s painstaking reporting and storytelling gave citizens the first comprehensive explanation of how it works.

“This transparency, while uncomfortable for some involved with the Hunley, is essential for the public to understand and endorse the decisions of those in government who hold their trust.”

The Confederate submarine was the first to sink an enemy ship in warfare. It sunk the U.S.S. Housatonic off Charleston in 1864. Then the Hunley itself sunk and was not found until 1995. It was raised in 2000.

The APME represents editors at 1,500 AP member newspapers in the United States and Canada. Awards will be presented at the APME annual conference in October in New Orleans.