Alexandra Berzon (born 1979) is an American investigative reporter for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. She previously wrote for

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...

and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''. Her 2008 series of investigative stories about the deaths of construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip for the '' Las Vegas Sun'' won the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and The Hillman Prize. The Public Service Pulitzer cited "the courageous reporting by Alexandra Berzon, for the exposure of the high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations, leading to changes in policy and improved safety conditions." The centerpiece was a four-part series entitled "Construction Deaths". Berzon began her investigation after nine construction workers died in eight separate accidents. Her series exposed the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA; ) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established ...

's lax enforcement of regulations and highlighted the cozy relationship between safety regulators and builders. The series was cited in congressional hearings examining OSHA's record and led to changes in policy and improved safety conditions. With short biography and reprints of 20 works (''Las Vegas Sun'' articles March 30 to December 28, 2008).

Life

Before the ''Sun'', Berzon was a reporter for '' Red Herring'', a business and technology magazine, and worked for the '' Anchorage Daily News'' and '' San Antonio Express-News''. She has also reported for Salon.com, NPR, and American Public Media's American RadioWorks. Her coverage of South Pacific islanders who had emigrated to New Zealand due to fears of sea level rise was part of a series that won the George Polk Award for Radio Reporting in 2007. Berzon grew up in Berkeley, California and graduated from

Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA) is a coeducational, Independent school, independent University-preparatory school, college-preparatory school for boarding and day students in Concord, Massachusetts. CA educates approximately 400 students in ...

in 1997, then Vassar College in 2001. She then earned a master’s in journalism from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2006. Her mother, Marsha Berzon, is a circuit judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Awards

In addition to the Pulitzer for Public Service, Berzon has won Story of the Year, News Feature of the Year, and the First Amendment Award from the Nevada Press Association.Nevada Press Association: 2008 Awards
. She was also part of a team of ''

'' journalists that won the

Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was e ...

for Large Newspapers for coverage of the Deepwater Horizon crisis. She and other graduate school classmates won a Polk Award for their radio series on early signs of

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

, which aired on PRI's '' Living on Earth'' and American Public Media's '' American RadioWorks''.

References

External links

Profile at ''Las Vegas Sun''

Wall Street Journal profile page for Alexandra Berzon
- includes photo and contact info * Article about Berzon on Poynter.org site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berzon, Alexandra American newspaper reporters and correspondents The Wall Street Journal people The New York Times people Vassar College alumni UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni Journalists from California Writers from Berkeley, California Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1979 births Gerald Loeb Award winners for Large Newspapers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists