AP writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis wins Dirksen Award for economic bailout coverage

AP’s Davis wins Dirksen Award for bailout coverage

WASHINGTON — Julie Hirschfeld Davis, who covers Capitol Hill for The Associated Press, has won the National Press Foundation’s 2009 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Coverage of Congress by a print reporter.

The foundation, which provides professional development for journalists, on Tuesday cited Davis for her detailed coverage of the financial and automobile bailouts in 2008 and the lobbying that shaped the huge stimulus spending bill that followed.

The Dirksen award, named for the late Illinois senator and Republican leader, comes with $5,000 and is a top honor for Capitol Hill reporters. It honors “thoughtful appraisal and insight into the workings of the U.S. Congress,” the foundation said.

The winner of the 2009 Dirksen award for broadcast reporting was Brianna Keilar of CNN, also for bailout coverage. The judges awarded a special citation to David Rogers of Politico for his more than 30 years of distinguished coverage of Congress.

The awards will be presented at the foundation’s annual dinner Feb. 16.

Davis, 34, joined the AP in 2007 from the Washington bureau of The Baltimore Sun. AP Special Correspondent David Espo won the Dirksen print award in 2000. AP writer Alan Fram received the award in 2002.