bill of rights. otherwise maybe we wouldn't. so this election had great consequence dishearten -- consequences. with very little known virginia history in a look forward to reading it this summer. >> i and the president of new york public library and thank-you to coming to our humble trustees' room. i draw your attention to the mantelpiece, the city of new york has free use of this

building for all the people so you are welcome as are all the people, and we are honored to be hosting and celebrating the helen bernstein book award for excellence in journalism with incredibly prestigious award that is so important to the journalistic community to recognizing the amazing journalists to do amazing work in drawing the public's attention to report current issues and defense and i am particularly delighted to welcome the bernstein families today whose steadfast supporter who has made this possible. and i hope you'll join me to welcoming one of the library's greatest advocates , a supporter supporter, helen bernstein who is here. [applause] and her family, her daughter

, and her son. both are here tonight. helen and i were just chatting, reminiscing but our own career, a dedication to journalism, a family that goes back to leavenworth's that had something to do with h&r block and unbelievable the stories imbedded in this family and the stories this family has told. now this award helps others recognize those for telling. so we gather in this great room to bring together an incredible number of journalists, former prize winners, writers, academics winners, writers, academics, library trustees. and of course, we are joined

tonight by four of the finalists, katherine boo, rajiv chandrasekeran tom wilber and david sanger. it is wonderful to have you all here. [applause] also present tonight for the previous award winners and schulz, and any ned bernstein are all here. wellcome. [applause] they all know what a good party this is. so they are most welcome tonight it is a privilege for the new york public to be the home of the bernstein awards over the last 26 years of giving this award. it brings prestige, recognition to our wonderful establishment to the library and of course, allows us to

recognize and celebrate journalist. so enjoy this greatest of all libraries, i do work here but to leave one of the greatest to make sure we have been informed society. so my apologies to my colleague who runs the of the library who was sitting right there. [laughter] i always step right into it. so libraries are like newsrooms' come up with questions of how to adapt to a digital future. you may have noted. the library in fact, just recently, a couple weeks ago we announced that the public working together with queens and brooklyn made the unprecedented move so all of the of publishers are now selling e-books for those to

land so that they can get them in the electronic version so now that will be accessible to all and we did that making sure that publishers and authors would be paid a fair price for their work. we are all in this together. [applause] and it just to show that we go from the modern to the less modern, justin couple hours ago in this very room and looked telesco less party like we had a ceremony to announce that the library's, one of the 14 original copies of the bill of rights has not been seen in public over 100 years while we have kept it safe rather than at the bicentennial will now be on permanent display here at the new york public library as well as in philadelphia.

[applause] superior at the library interested in the most modern of access and the most inspiring of historic access to ideas ideas, books, documents. and in that we have in common with those who are represented here tonight and the work that you do. the dedicated and passionate and strong reporters that work in the trenches to dig deep to give the information that they need to be an informed citizenry. we are partners with you in that and eager to make sure our business model works going forward so we can be sure to do what we do and you are eager to make sure your model works going forward because democracy rests, the one that jefferson helped to found upon the work of the profession that we honor here tonight.

the five finalist this year of course, exemplify that amazing work and they are produced by amazing and the elaborate process. the library's review committee spent hundreds of hours reading and we have received over 100 submissions. and that committee includes my colleagues jennifer craft, karen, ryan, ken johnson, and to love, billy, and rich who are here this evening. thank you so much for you're amazing work and time you put him beyond the great work that you do at the library. and then their recommendations are forwarded to a selection committee of distinguished journalists who then

independently reid the finalist work and select a winner. the selection committee is chaired by james m. i will introduce and his pardners pardners, the director of global lan drive program studies and a professor of journalism at nyu, and jack rosenthal who is the president emeritus of "the new york times" company foundation. the advisory board member of the international women's media foundation, a dane, a correspondent of course, for "the new york times" in paris a job that we all aspire to. [laughter] sorry. that i aspire to. and calvin, a program officer who could not be with us this evening. i want to thank all of you for the amazing work they you do with the time and

dedication and we know the you do that for the same reason we are all here to make sure this profession is recognized and the greatness within it is recognized and we all celebrate so we can continue to do it and benefit from it. so this evening we will first hear from james, i'm sorry. we will come back to him but we will start with our guest speaker tonight janet. and any award winning documentary journalist, the former senior vice president of corporate communication at mgm studios, a managing director of the carmen group and began her career at washington d.c. with nbc news and with abc news "nightline." i am not sure how you do that exactly. amazing. and later worked for cnn in

los angeles and honored with the champion taco ward from dartmouth school of business and a grace you ward. she writes for the huffington post and is a member of the pacific council on international policy, the executive council of lupus l.a. and the alliance of women and media, ladies and gentlemen, sees join me too well, janet to the stage. [applause] >> suspecting q4 that there a lovely and generous introduction and i am sorry i am recovering from laryngitis. i am deeply honored to be here tonight as the bernstein family and in your public library and these five very prestigious journalist to our finalist

in the helen bernstein book award for excellence in journalism. each one katherine boo boo, rajiv chandrasekeran, david quammen, david sanger, and tom wilber have spent time tirelessly with subject matter exporting your books. with out you the world would be a great loss. as you have with laser focus but a much needed spotlight on subjects that cannot and should not be ignored. since my own journalism career does not come close to matching any of yours, we have three pulitzer winners winners, a pen award, a genius winners several national magazine manners, a "new york times" pend best book renner and catherine's book is -- has been adapted for a play in london and you're trying to figure out why i am standing here

speaking to you tonight. i could just go in paid into the other again paneling. in 1987 in this book award was established serrate a generous gift from joseph bernstein in honor of helen bernstein. now i know she was introduced and you recognize her tonight but long before this was established, helen was changing the lives of journalists, including my own. she has spent over 30 years as a writer and columnist for it and -- in palm beach interviewing politicians, officials, cele brities, and luminaries. so when i was producing for nbc news doing a story in palm beach my search for sources began at the newspaper offices. the editor and top reporters all said to me must talk to

helen. she is your story. sure enough, i called suze when i could fit into her very busy schedule. she said why don't you come over right now calling my bluff? i can still see her opening a door to her lovely home on an island drive reaching her hand out to greet me. i am house when she said with her winning smile. please come in. been no. and the enduring friendship and it that it continues to this day and the editors of the paper did not disappoint helen was a key player in our story was a mention their names stores and everybody in town wanted to be interviewed probably the first and only time that will ever happen to me. [laughter] she manages not only to be that a list in palm beach but also makes fun of all of

the other a lister's and that i cannot figure out how she does but it has something to do with the winning combination of her quick wit, charm and blunt riding skills. because of her i won my first national emmy for the story and i have already said she deserved it more than i do. without her, it never would have happened. she truly change my life and continues to do so honoring the journalist in this room with this award. after her daughter moved to catherine to washington d.c. we and it had a friendship that extends to% jim and his wife margaret and her stepson jim. now i do have some breaking news for everybody tonight who are finalists. helen has written her first book compilation of the best of her columns titled my journey from palm beach

journalist to oprah with stops along the way and will be published in the next few months. yes, one of her columns caught the attention of oprah and she was a guest. probably not something everyone can say. it is a fascinating reid of who's to of movers and shakers in palm beach, a city there always seems to connect with major news headlines. think bernie made off. [laughter] and i have had a sneak peek. while waiting at the airport lounge at jfk for a flight on the concorde to paris sheikh spite of the secretary of state and someone she did not know but that did not stop our fearless reporter who marchers over to him and got an exclusive interview for the paper on the spot. i would be remiss if i did not take this opportunity to discuss as president marks

did devolve can excite eruptions' journalism books and libraries are currently experiencing. it is all under siege. libraries are closing with greater frequency. i still need one of you to explain to me why neighborhood bookstore that i can talk to in los angeles is out of business. i love spending hours wandering in bookstores to find books that piqued my curiosity and i am sure i would never look at half of them if they were not in front of me. now the closest bookstore is at the airport. the marriage of content and technology has changed delivery model some demanding the story be told as quickly and precisely as three words on twitter. these delivery models have created a chaotic scenarios for what we refer to as traditional newspaper and broadcast outlets. but i truly believe out of

chaos comes opportunity and innovation. new opportunities for excellence in journalism and the skill set to package it forcing journalist to reinvent themselves to accommodate. i experienced in my young career. after spending over 20 years in washington d.c. working for nbc news and "nightline", cnn, i was recruited by the chairman and ceo of mgm studios to be senior vice president of corporate communion -- communication never in a million years they see myself as a studio executive. after all i had covered president clinton from campaigns for a transition, first and second term at the white house as a producer and winning awards for serious papers or documentary's on pension funds but what i've learned from my days at mgm and by the way working for kirchner

korea was like getting the nba without paying the tuition. [laughter] that my skills as a journalist prepared me for the job. later after the company sold i started my own media and public policy company recently emerging with a group based in washington d.c. opening the l.a. office. while all major newspapers like the "washington post", "new york times" and "l.a. times" are struggling to stay current to support new advertising models, and many are closing strategic heroes to let seasoned reporters go to impair the process but replacements like "politico" and others are working to fill the void. many ceased publishing hard copies finding that they cannot compete but interestingly enough felons

paper is the exception. and one of the only ones in the country's thriving on the hard version and a newspaper delivery. but take note. when angelina joe lee chose to tell her dramatic medical story and she chose to tell it to the world she picks in your times i think it has something to do with credibility. and certainly cable news and radio has spent many more jobs than the networks ever dreamed and i was starting out but no one has put together the marriage of content of technology better than the huffington post giving writers and reporters and editors a platform was creating a successful business model. and the reinventing of these professional skills journalist have spent a lifetime building to take them through this chaotic

period if the delivery of content is put into a mobile phone, ipad, blackberry, b ut amazon kindle or online site someone will have to create the content to fill it and nobody does that better than the journalist. the byproduct of people is the opportunity for anyone and everyone to blob, have a voice and express an opinion. there is a place for citizen blockers and mobile phone videos with no better example than the boston marathon bombing. technology enables runners and other bystanders with mobile phones to work or law-enforcement along with credible journalist telling the story, finding the suspects. streak cameras and tips lead to follow up interviews to flush out the story is giving us a better

understanding of what happened. again, a credibility working with technology. even more recently the heroic rescue of three kidnapped girls held for years as tortured prisoners it in cleveland is a great example of the determined nature of journalist. i was struck by the frantic 91 call made by one of the victims. help me. i am amanda berra i said -- amanda berry i have been kidnapped in missing 10 years and i am now than i am free now. i has been on the news for 10 years. she knew that because responsible journalists kept her story alive for 10 years and amanda was watching. we non-ec an increase of more online outlets offering possibilities for content that really we are counted with more news that requires solid journalistic

investigation who doesn't want to know more about the i.r.a. scandal? and we do need more facts about benghazi but from the train journalist who can tell us the story separating fact from fiction. and much more disturbing now we are learning to journalist themselves are once again under siege has recent revelation shows the justice department's secret decision to seize phone records of dozens of reporters and editors at the ap as part of the yearlong investigation into the disclosure of classified information about the failed al qaeda plot. just yesterday we learned a justice department can was boxing james rose and personal e-mail's in 2009 looking to find a source on a story he wrote about national security. while he has not been charged formally by the

justice department they are saying there is at least probable cause says to aid and abet and the word co-conspirator, is simply appalling. as we all know protecting sources plays a vital role in the job as a journalist and without the many stories would never get told, and many books like we are honoring tonight would not get published. i remember the book award winner in 2004 word discussing the story to expose of the veterans at walter reed hospital the tip came from a cold call on her office telephone. that call was the value and protected source the need to operate in a supportive and protected environment gaining a trust from sources does not waver because of

updated technology and delivery platforms. all of these delivery changes remind me of a great team in the bill -- billy wilder movie sunset boulevard. to recognize the aging screen star. your norma. you used to be in silent pictures. you used to be big. i.m. big it is the pictures that got small. she called that one. next week, next month, next year, new delivery toys will demands and offer even more content possibilities at faster speeds but that does not make the content and stories any better. credible journalists to tell the stories make it better. at home with the skill sets has determined fearless

reporters never taking no for an answer pushing and probing protecting sources to make sure all the rest of us stay informed. never has there been more emphasis on getting the story of quickly to millions of people with social network. with the impact of those daring videos during the arab spring uprising. with the enduring need for responsible incredible journalist. with information overload comes the need to separate all the babble from fact. that is what journalist to and by the way they do it very, very well as we have seen tonight. eric schmidt recently said all of our content will soon be delivered on mobile phones and then on the

tablet and he is correct. partially. he forgot to add when it comes to excellence in journalism, there is a big difference. the difference is in this room, catherine, rajiv chandrasekeran, david quammen, david sanger, and tom wilber. we need to and depending on you and counting on you to tell us the story. your skills that is irreplaceable, even more reason to celebrate your accomplishments with this prestigious bernstein book award. thank you. [applause] >> thank you janet. and now we will turn choose a chair of the selection committee who we all know spent three decades of newspaper journalism of a

washington correspondent and editor and publisher of the "chicago sun-times" and publisher and president of the "new york daily news." he completed 18 years as the editor of foreign affairs affairs, an amazing years. they currently senior adviser chairman of the board of human rights watch and the international center for journalists, ladies and gentleman, james. [applause] >> thank you so much. this is a pleasure every year for myself to read these extraordinary books. each one is by a journalist and on the subject of a public consequence. so let's get to with the

finalists are, david sanger author of "confront and conceal". publisher is crown. his assessment of president obama foreign policy paints a decidedly mixed pitcher. the president has been bold into developments that may threaten american security, a witness for example, the killing of been lauded but he has been consistently cautious of interventions and conflicts above the threshold including the civil war now under way in syria. he is pushing for allies in organizations to play a larger peacekeeping role, as set out views in a series of speeches, but has enunciated no overall theme for american foreign policy. david sanger fully documents a top-down control od sanger fus

a top-down control of policy and his penchant for secrecy. he has vastly expanded the use of drones against terrorists, sometimes with little regard to the sovereignty of others. his most startling revelation in this book are the president support of the disruptive tactics including computer worms to delaying the iran nuclear program progress for americans to long-running engagements obama is looking at the time tables first with iraq now afghanistan despite reservations of military officers. david saks says to thinking in the white house delivers a picture of disgust of pentagon generals and corrupt pakistan in leaders. his nature comes through in the reporting as well as the on easy concern of allies.

david sanger finds home and abroad the jury is still out on obama is handling of international relations. next is "little america" by rajiv chandrasekeran. initially america's intervention in afghanistan was strikingly successful. the al qaeda forces responsible for the 9/11 attacks were driven into neighboring pakistan and the post at taliban government was ousted from power. but the united states and the coalition forces were stretched thin by simultaneous complex in iraq and afghanistan. by 2009, the taliban had regained control of much of afghanistan's countryside and was threatening major urban centers. the massive surge of troops avoided a collapse but could not produce a victory.

rajiv chandrasekeran, the washington post's veteran war correspondent identifies the underlying weaknesses that doom that search and at best the outcome was the ending of a stalemate or a quiet -- chaotic withdrawal and from their earlier u.s. effort known as "little america" as then with those accomplishments they were undermined by corruption corruption, waste, competing players and unreliable afghan forces. some officials including richard holbrooke unsuccessfully counseled negotiations of the taliban as the only feasible way to end the ongoing conflict. the misjudgments, pour execution, in fighting or starkly revealed in the reporting and analysis.

annexing is "behind the beautiful forevers" author is katherine boo and the publisher is random house. behind the aglitter hotels of the mumbai a district is a slum, a teeming with problems but also with life. of teenage scavengers lived at of the garbage in a hotel and entrepreneurs perilously make ends meet on a daily basis. women parlayed prostitution and police and other officials expect payoffs. tuesday's tender on poetics pros katherine boo paints an unforgettable picture of those who are striving to survive through the enterprise and ruthless competition and betrayal of each other.

sexual abuse is rampant, corruption is common, and government indifference is pervasive. the characters so vividly portrayed common shows the force in the caste system, a predatory upperclass and religious domination for covert eloquent depiction of striving humanity never preaches a readers can mess the story so beautiful told is also a profound that cries out for reform that is lacking. next is "spillover" by david quammen. from time to time the potential is raised for pandemic swiss food cases

from horrific diseases and heftier of coalescing forces to have a spillover and in today's world the potential for escalation is exemplified by the mobility of populations by people that if left undisturbed contain the danger. airplane traffic increases the chances of a global pandemic and passengers are from around the globe. for many years david quammen has tracked the pandemic is from the planet and in his book "spillover" he takes "the reader" to the middle east to discover the risks to make the leap from animal carriers to humans.

he is a writer who combines clarity with elegance and infuses his detective work as for precautions device is don't eat monkeys and take a flu shot. under the surface fracking fortunes of the marcellus shale comet tom wilber is the author. in the last decade america's energy prospects have literally been turned upside-down from worries about scarcity to about unanticipated abundance. driving this shift is a boon for natural gas and clean energy and fuel efficiencies

at home and most of all to the shale oil and gas and technological irritations to be embedded in san in the leaders of the ears. but fracking as the process is known uses enormous amounts of water and can spoil a large part of the environment one of the great deposits is the marcellus shale stretches across upper new york and pennsylvania. reporter tom wilber was reporting on the effects of the gas boom in talking to leaders of every county and expenses paid by others and profit by sun and the local

lifestyle dislocation. to mitigate the damage of fracking requires strong regulation ineffective governments his reporting vividly shows the difference between low ryan extractions' and poorly managed ones. that is it for this year i do have a winner and we have very close when years following up the winner the sheer is katherine boo. [applause] stand next to me you.

>> thank you so much. would you like to say a few words? >> sure. it is an honor to be in the company of my fellow finalists and also to know that there is a natural helen bernstein. [laughter] so thank you to her and i wanted to say something. for a journalist working not in new york but in far-flung places that this means a lot that over the years going back for some time, every year you read in your time some journalist want an award but it was from those set by eight respected the most and taught me how to be in the world and then there

were the badass women who with the priest like bernstein and i didn't know these men in but i saw that they reminded me they took the seventh six people did not want to read and they said to me as a journalist, it is not the you can complain in public to say the public does not want to read about genocide that the public does not shit about giving -- growing up in the inner city that you have to make them give 87 about growing up there. after all these years is about reporting and people who believe i believe this is the best writing it happens because of the

reporter that says that they have to do a better job to find a way to make them care. i will try harder. by my own book i want to say this award is very much shared all the abuse in the slum club in mumbai. and they, we worked on this book beginning in 2007 and we had no idea anybody would read it. at the time they took serious risks and risked their liberty and their lives to participate that they did not think anybody would care about. so it is amazing to be here and amazing to have this generous award from the helen bernstein foundation

and it will go to the community in which they lived. thank you so much. [applause] >> for the rest of our extremely wonderful of others we have a going away present. rajiv chandrasekeran? [applause] >> congratulations. [applause] and a good friend and former editor stephen buyers is here to get a david quammen award. he is on assignment. david sanger. [applause]

tom wilber. [applause] >> thank you. congratulations to all of our finalists. night of course, and not allowed to have favorites but i should confess i have known david most of my life. but i took the finest books with me for christmas vacation to a very beautiful beach and i remember down on the first day and night to get catherine spoke with me and start a just told you this story but and my wife

who is a professor at columbia said, she grabbed it from me and said no i will read that first. so we will set in this place like paradise and kathryn is reading into the book and goes a half an hour or an hour and she stops and looks over at me and goes, do you smell garbage? that is the power of catherine's writing and the message that she tells us because there was no garbage know where nearby except as eloquently described in that book. all represented tonight are incredibly powerful powerful, awakening to the democracy of the populace of the dangers ahead of. we are all in your debt for

that, for the work you have done for you and everyone here and of course, we are in debt to helen and her family for making this amazing award possible so we can come together to recognize the great journalism a great work and great writing that we all rely upon. it is great to have you all here we look forward to next year. you can come any time, a special offer for you, a free books for just you at the world's greatest library. [applause] it is now after hours at the library police died -- please stay and have a great time. thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

. .