Finalists Announced for 2005 Bastiat Journalism Prize
International Policy Network announced the six finalists for the fourth international annual Bastiat Prize for Journalism on 15 September 2005. The Bastiat Prize celebrates writers whose work cleverly and wittily promotes on the institutions of free society – in honour of 19th Century French philosopher Frédéric Bastiat, who was a master of the genre.
“The calibre of the journalists who enter this now highly prestigious competition is staggering. We received over 180 submissions from 30 countries. With difficulty, we have whittled this down to 6. The final decision is now in the hands of our eminent judges – which include Nobel prize- winning economist Milton Friedman and Mystery of Capital author Hernando de Soto. We look forward to announcing this year’s winners at the Bastiat prize dinner on 25th October,” said IPN Executive Director, Julian Morris.
The 2005 finalists and where their articles where published are:
- Mary Anastasia O’Grady – The Wall Street Journal, New York, USA
- Allister Heath – The Business, London, UK
- George Kerevan - The Scotsman, Edinburgh, UK
- Deroy Murdock – The National Review Online, New York, USA
- Dinakar Sethuraman – Forbes Global, New York, USA
- Rakesh Wadhwa – The Himalayan Times, Kathmandu, Nepal
Three articles from each finalist have been sent to a panel of judges, who will determine the winners. The judges’ results will be revealed at the Bastiat prize dinner in New York on 25 October 2005. The prize includes a $10,000 USD award.
The Bastiat prize was first awarded in 2002 and judges have included Lady Thatcher and Nobel-Prize-winner James Buchanan. The international panel of judges is composed of economists, former winners, academics and business people, and includes Dr. Milton Friedman; Edward Crane, founder and president of the Cato Institute; Lord Kalms of Edgware, founder of the Dixons Group; Ruth Richardson, former Finance Minister of New Zealand, and Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto.
Last year’s winners were Robert Guest of The Economist (1st) and John Stossel of ABC News’s 20/20 (2nd). Previous winners included Amity Shlaes (Financial Times), Sauvik Chakraverti (Economic Times, India), Brian Carney (Wall Street Journal Europe), and British freelancer Stephen Pollard.
Entries for the Bastiat prize are judged by intellectual content of each article, the persuasiveness of the language used, the type of publication in which it appeared and the location of the author. The Prize is open to all writers, anywhere in the world; and the writers need not be associated with any specific publication. The prize was developed to encourage and reward writers whose published works promote the institutions of a free society: limited government, rule of law brokered by an independent judiciary, protection of private property, free markets, free speech, and sound science.
The Bastiat prize is sponsored by International Policy Network (IPN), which comprises two sister organisations: a charity based in London, and a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization in the US. IPN aims to empower individuals and promote respect for people and property in order to eliminate poverty, improve human health and protect the environment. IPN promotes public awareness of the importance of this vision for all people, both rich and poor.
