A new Philip Meyer Journalism Award has been created in honor of the professor of the same name at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The awards, three a year, will be for the best work using techniques of precision journalism, computer-assisted reporting and social science research.

Phil's 1972 book, Precision Journalism, was the first place I (and probably most of its readers) ever saw the crazy idea that journalists ought to know something about computers and social science research methods. It was quite a coincidence to wind up as one of Phil's graduate assistants -- 25 years later, and to start his website, which later students expanded, including a free online version of the book's old edition. (I still recommend buying the new edition).

Formerly a national correspondent and research director with Knight-Ridder newspapers, Meyer has taught at UNC since 1981 and has held the Knight Chair in Journalism at UNC since 1993. The awards will be made by the National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting, the Knight Chair in Journalism at Arizona State University, and Investigative Reporters & Editors. NICAR is a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism.

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