Charleston Gazette-Mail Report
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston Gazette-Mail reporter Ken Ward Jr. and former Charleston Gazette reporter Paul J. Nyden are among three people named Monday as winners of the annual Tom and Pat Gish Award, given for “courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism.”
Ward and Nyden are sharing the award with former National Public Radio reporter Howard Berkes. The award is given by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky, and named after the couple who published The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Kentucky, for more than 50 years.
Ward, a native of Mineral County, joined the Gazette in 1991. Last year, he was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship based on his investigative reporting. The foundation said Ward was chosen because he excels at “revealing the human and environmental toll of natural-resource extraction in West Virginia and spurring greater accountability among public and private stakeholders.” …
Nyden, Ward’s mentor, worked at the Gazette from 1982 to 2015, when he retired. He died last year. In his obituary for the Gazette-Mail, Ward wrote that Nyden “defended the public’s interests by consistently taking on powerful state businesses and challenging political leaders across West Virginia.” …
