Paper finalist for Michael Kelly Award

NORWAY — The Advertiser Democrat has been recognized as one of four finalists for the Michael Kelly Award, a national journalism award named for the first American journalist to die in the Iraq conflict.

The recognition comes for a series of articles by Editor A.M. Sheehan and Assistant Editor Matt Hongoltz-Hetling on health and safety violations in federally-subsidized Section 8 housing in Oxford County.

The series led to a state and federal investigation of substandard housing conditions, and an overhaul of the practices used by the Maine State Housing Authority and HUD to ensure tenant safety.

The award was created to recognize writers and editors "whose work exemplifies a quality that animated Michael Kelly's own career: the fearless pursuit and expression of truth," according to a statement from The Atlantic Media Company which oversees the award.

Other finalists include Rukmini Callimachi of the Associated Press for her coverage of events in West Africa; Kathy Dobie for a piece in Harper's Magazine about sexual abuse on Indian reservations; and Sarah Stillman for a piece in the New Yorker about women in Fiji who ended up as contract workers at military bases in Iraq against their will.

The four finalists were chosen from 59 submitted entries by a panel of judges that includes Charles Green, executive editor, National Journal; Cullen Murphy, editor at large, Vanity Fair; Mandy Locke, reporter, Raleigh News & Observer and winner of the 2011 Michael Kelly Award; Alexis Simendinger, White House correspondent, RealClearPolitics; and Jonathan Rauch, contributing editor, National Journal.

The Section 8 housing series was also recognized with the 2011 George Polk Award for Local Reporting.

The winner of the Michael Kelly award will be announced during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 15.