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The little guy wins big
I don't know if this was a case of giving up the big money job for what you really wanted to do...but this is a heck of a consolation prize. Champagne for everyone!
AP reports as usual--
Nigel Jaquiss stared off into space, his eyes brimming with tears when word hit the tiny alternative weekly's newsroom that he had won a Pulitzer Prize, journalism's most-coveted award, for uncovering a 3-decade-old sex abuse scandal involving a former governor.
"I never thought it would happen to me," said Jaquiss, 42, a former Wall Street stock trader who is now an investigative reporter at the Willamette Week.
Following up leads that larger papers had overlooked, Jaquiss documented a three-year-long sexual relationship between Neil Goldschmidt, then mayor of Portland, and a 14-year-old girl who baby sat for his children. After serving as mayor, Goldschmidt became governor and, during the Carter administration, U.S. transportation secretary.
Willamette Week, which has an unpaid circulation of 90,000, published Jaquiss' story last May.
"I think most of us know how unusual it is for a paper our size to win this award," Zusman said.
"I don't think I could have done the work I did anywhere else," Jaquiss told reporters gathered in the newspaper's office.
Founded 30 years ago, Willamette Week has carved a niche with its unflinching look at Oregon politics and its whimsical reviews of rock bands and cheap restaurants. The back pages sport racy personal advertisements and ads for male and female escort services.
But it has also established a name for going after news.
Foremost was Jaquiss' pursuit of a rumor that Goldschmidt one of the most respected politicians in Oregon had sex with his children's baby sitter in the 1970s.
When the Willamette Week approached Goldschmidt's lawyers and informed them of their plans to publish the story, Goldschmidt immediately resigned from his position on Oregon's Board of Higher Education, citing ill-health. But within hours of the article appearing on the Willamette Week's Web site, the politician called a meeting with editors from The Oregonian, the city's daily newspaper, in which he acknowledged that he had sex with the girl.
Rumors of the prize spread throughout the morning, prompting one editor to dash out for champagne.
Shortly after noon Monday, the newspaper staff gathered around a speaker phone in Zusman's office for an incoming phone call. It was Western Union calling to say: "You were awarded the Pulitzer Prize."
The room erupted into applause and soon after, Jaquiss who's {sic} face was frozen in meditative silence was bathed in champagne. So was Zusman.
AP reports as usual--
Nigel Jaquiss stared off into space, his eyes brimming with tears when word hit the tiny alternative weekly's newsroom that he had won a Pulitzer Prize, journalism's most-coveted award, for uncovering a 3-decade-old sex abuse scandal involving a former governor.
"I never thought it would happen to me," said Jaquiss, 42, a former Wall Street stock trader who is now an investigative reporter at the Willamette Week.
Following up leads that larger papers had overlooked, Jaquiss documented a three-year-long sexual relationship between Neil Goldschmidt, then mayor of Portland, and a 14-year-old girl who baby sat for his children. After serving as mayor, Goldschmidt became governor and, during the Carter administration, U.S. transportation secretary.
Willamette Week, which has an unpaid circulation of 90,000, published Jaquiss' story last May.
"I think most of us know how unusual it is for a paper our size to win this award," Zusman said.
"I don't think I could have done the work I did anywhere else," Jaquiss told reporters gathered in the newspaper's office.
Founded 30 years ago, Willamette Week has carved a niche with its unflinching look at Oregon politics and its whimsical reviews of rock bands and cheap restaurants. The back pages sport racy personal advertisements and ads for male and female escort services.
But it has also established a name for going after news.
Foremost was Jaquiss' pursuit of a rumor that Goldschmidt one of the most respected politicians in Oregon had sex with his children's baby sitter in the 1970s.
When the Willamette Week approached Goldschmidt's lawyers and informed them of their plans to publish the story, Goldschmidt immediately resigned from his position on Oregon's Board of Higher Education, citing ill-health. But within hours of the article appearing on the Willamette Week's Web site, the politician called a meeting with editors from The Oregonian, the city's daily newspaper, in which he acknowledged that he had sex with the girl.
Rumors of the prize spread throughout the morning, prompting one editor to dash out for champagne.
Shortly after noon Monday, the newspaper staff gathered around a speaker phone in Zusman's office for an incoming phone call. It was Western Union calling to say: "You were awarded the Pulitzer Prize."
The room erupted into applause and soon after, Jaquiss who's {sic} face was frozen in meditative silence was bathed in champagne. So was Zusman.