Seattle Times reporters awarded national journalism prize

Seattle Times investigative reporters David Heath and Hal Bernton have won the national Clark Mollenhoff Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting for their series "The Favor Factory."

The judges described the series, which examined Congressional earmarks, as "explosive."

"Their series is a groundbreaking blend of print and online investigative journalism that also features the first national online searchable database linking Congressional members to defense earmarks, campaign contributions, and company spending on lobbyists," the judges wrote.

The award is presented by the Institute on Political Journalism (IPJ) and comes with a $10,000 prize.

Also, Seattle Times intern Robert Faturechi won the IPJ's Thomas L. Phillips Collegiate Journalism Award for his UCLA Daily Bruin piece on how donations influenced admission into the college's elite orthodontics program.

The Seattle Times has also won a number of awards in the Best of the West journalism contest, which this year accepted 2,000 entries from the 13 states west of the Rockies, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Seattle Times results in that contest were as follows:

Explanatory reporting — First place: "Confronting Malaria," by Sandi Doughton and Kristi Heim. Third place (tie): "Building the Dreamliner," by Dominic Gates.

Feature writing, short form — First place: "Google Twins," by Marc Ramirez.

Blog Writing — First place: "Reporter's Journal," by Jerry Brewer. Third place (tie): "Mariners Blog," Geoff Baker.

Investigative reporting — Second place: "Miracle Machines: The 21st-Century Snake Oil," by Michael J. Berens and Christine Willmsen.

Informational Graphic — Second place: "Our 44th President: Picking the Nominees," by Amanda Raymond, David Birdwell and Denise Clifton. Third place (tie): "Prop. 1: What You Pay, What you Get," by Gabi Campanario and Whitney Stensrud.

Illustration — Second place: "Butterfly Wonderland," by Julie Notarianni and Jeff Paslay.

Growth and Development Reporting — Third place (tie): "Did Development, Logging Set the Stage for Disaster?" by Lynda V. Mapes and Hal Bernton.

Project reporting — Third place: "A Prayer for Gloria," by Jerry Brewer.