# Raymond Clapper Memorial Award

The Raymond Clapper Memorial Award, later called the Washington Reporting Raymond Clapper Award, was an American journalism award presented from 1944 to 2011. Named in honor of Raymond Clapper (1892–1944), the award was given "to a journalist or team for distinguished Washington reporting."
The award was presented most often at the annual White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner, but for a period in the years 1951 to 1965 it was given at the annual American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) dinner. In the early days of the Award, it was often presented to the winner by the U.S. President, who was usually a guest at the press dinner.
Starting in 2004 the award was presented as part of Scripps Howard's National Journalism Awards (later known as the Scripps Howard Awards). The Raymond Clapper Award was discontinued after 2011.

## History

Reporter and Scripps Howard columnist Raymond Clapper died in 1944 during World War II while covering the U.S. invasion of the Marshall Islands. Following his death, the Raymond Clapper Memorial Association was incorporated in Washington, D.C. "to perpetuate the memory of Clapper" through the Raymond Clapper Memorial Award.
"The organizing committee of the association was composed of the heads of various newspaper organizations in Washington," including Scripps-Howard Newspapers, the Chicago Sun, United Press, the White House Correspondents' Association, United Feature Syndicate, Overseas Writers Association, and the Gridiron Club.
Under the terms of the incorporation of the Clapper Memorial Association, "the Standing Committee of Correspondents, the governing body of the Washington press corps ... will be in complete control of the award, ... so that it will always be under the direction of the working, newspapermen of the national capital."
The founding trustees of the Clapper Association were George B. Parker, editor-in-chief of Scripps-Howard Newspapers; Byron Price of the Associated Press; and Eugene Meyer of The Washington Post.
Under Scripps Howard, the Washington Reporting Raymond Clapper Award was presented from 2004 to 2011, at which point it was discontinued.

## Overview

In 1993, the criteria for the Award was described as "...any Washington-based daily newspaper reporter whose work most closely approximated the ideals of fair and painstaking reporting, and the good craftsmanship of Raymond Clapper."
The winner of the Award was selected by a panel of five editors/writers from a list of finalists. Most years, Honorable Mention and Second Place prizes were awarded as well.

## List of awardees

| Year | Recipient | Organization | Presenter | Note/Ref |
| 1944 | Ernie Pyle | Scripps Howard News Service | Sigma Delta Chi | "For distinguished foreign correspondence" |
| 1944 | Raymond P. Brandt | St. Louis Post Dispatch | WHCA | Brandt is technically considered the first recipient of the award |
| 1945 | Bert Andrews | New York Herald Tribune | WHCA | |
| 1946 | Thomas Lunsford Stokes | United Feature Syndicate | | |
| 1947 | Nat Solon Finney | Minneapolis Star and Tribune | | |
| 1947 | Bert Andrews | New York Herald Tribune | | Honorable Mention |
| 1947 | Alfred Friendly | The Washington Post | | Honorable Mention |
| 1948 | Peter Edson | Newspaper Enterprise Association | WHCA | Award presented by President Truman |
| 1949 | Jack Steele | New York Herald Tribune | WHCA | Award presented by President Truman |
| 1950 | Paul Logan Martin | Gannett Newspapers | | |
| 1951 | John M. Hightower | Associated Press | ASNE | |
| 1952 | Charles T. Lucey | Scripps Howard News Service | | |
| 1953 | Doris Fleeson | United Feature Syndicate | ASNE | |
| 1953 | James Free | The Birmingham News | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1954 | James Barrett Reston | The New York Times | ASNE | |
| 1955 | Clark R. Mollenhoff | Minneapolis Star and Tribune and Des Moines Register and Tribune | ASNE | |
| 1955 | William H. Lawrence | The New York Times | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1956 | Pat Munroe | Albuquerque Journal | ASNE | |
| 1956 | Lyle C. Wilson | United Press Association | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1957 | Chalmers M. Roberts | The Washington Post and Times-Herald | ASNE | |
| 1957 | Richard L. Wilson | Minneapolis Star and Tribune | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1958 | Edward T. Folliard | The Washington Post and Times-Herald | | |
| 1959 | Vance H. Trimble | Scripps Howard News Service | | |
| 1960 | James Marlow | Associated Press | ASNE | |
| 1960 | Fletcher Knebel and Charles Bailey | Minneapolis Star and Tribune and Des Moines Register and Tribune | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1960 | Don Oberdorfer and Walter Pincus | Knight Newspapers | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1961 | Richard Fryklund | Washington Evening Star | | |
| 1961 | David Wise | New York Herald Tribune | | Honorable Mention |
| 1962 | Morton Mintz | The Washington Post | ASNE | |
| 1962 | David Broder | The Washington Star | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1962 | Charles C. Keely, Jr. | Copley Press | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1963 | Jerry Landauer | The Wall Street Journal | ASNE | |
| 1963 | Howard Simons and Murray Marder | The Washington Post | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1963 | Charles W. Bailey II | Minneapolis Tribune | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1964 | John Barron and Paul B. Hope | Washington Evening Star | ASNE | Award presented by guest speaker Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1964 | James McCartney and Charles Nicodemus | Chicago Daily News | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1964 | John Cramer | Washington Daily News | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1964 | Dom Bonafede | New York Herald Tribune | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1964 | Louis Kohlmeier | The Wall Street Journal | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1964 | David Wise | New York Herald Tribune | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1965 | Nathan K. Kotz | The Des Moines Register and Minneapolis Tribune | ASNE | |
| 1965 | Dom Bonafede | New York Herald Tribune | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1965 | Bem Price | Associated Press | ASNE | Honorable Mention |
| 1966 | Howard Simons | The Washington Post | | |
| 1966 | Leonard Downie Jr. | The Washington Post | | Honorable Mention |
| 1967 | Nathan K. Kotz | The Des Moines Register and Minneapolis Tribune | WHCA | |
| 1967 | Jerry Landauer | The Wall Street Journal | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1968 | David Kraslow and Stuart H. Loory | Los Angeles Times | WHCA | |
| 1968 | Jerry Landauer | The Wall Street Journal | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1969 | Tom Lambert | Los Angeles Times | | |
| 1969 | William J. Eaton | Chicago Daily News | | Honorable Mention |
| 1970 | Jared D. Stout | Newhouse News Service | WHCA | |
| 1970 | Max Frankel | The New York Times | WHCA | Special Award |
| 1971 | James R. Polk | Washington Evening Star | | |
| 1971 | Frank Wright | Minneapolis Tribune | | Second Place |
| 1971 | James Risser | The Des Moines Register | | Honorable Mention |
| 1972 | Jean Heller | Associated Press | | |
| 1972 | Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward | The Washington Post | | Second Place |
| 1973 | James R. Polk | Washington Star-News | | |
| 1973 | Nathan K. Kotz and Adam Clymer | The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun | | Second Place |
| 1973 | Jerry Landauer | The Wall Street Journal | | Honorable Mention |
| 1974 | Brooks Jackson | Associated Press | WHCA | |
| 1974 | Peter A. Harkness and Mary Link (Frost) | Congressional Quarterly | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1975 | James Risser | The Des Moines Register | WHCA | |
| 1975 | Albert R. Hunt | The Wall Street Journal | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1976 | Alan Horton and Carl West | Scripps Howard News Service | WHCA | |
| 1976 | Scott Armstrong and Maxine Cheshire | The Washington Post | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1977 | George Anthan and James Risser | The Des Moines Register | WHCA | |
| 1977 | Walter Pincus | The Washington Post | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1977 | Brooks Jackson and Evans Witt | Associated Press | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1977 | Gene Goldenberg and Dale McFeatters | Scripps Howard News Service | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1978 | Gordon E. White | Salt Lake City Deseret News | | |
| 1978 | John P. Wallach | Hearst Newspapers | | Second Place |
| 1979 | George Anthan | The Des Moines Register | | |
| 1979 | James Coates and Eleanor Randolph | Chicago Tribune | | Second Place |
| 1980 | Nicholas Lemann | The Washington Post | WHCA | |
| 1980 | John J. Fialka | The Washington Star | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1981 | Joseph Albright and Cheryl Arvidson | Cox Newspapers | WHCA | |
| 1981 | James Coates and Bill Neikirk | Chicago Tribune | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1982 | Bruce Ingersoll | Chicago Sun-Times | | |
| 1982 | William Prochnau | The Washington Post | | Second Place |
| 1983 | Gregory Gordon | United Press International | WHCA | Tie |
| 1983 | Dennis Camire and Mark Rohner | Gannett News Service | WHCA | Tie |
| 1983 | Lawrence O'Rourke | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1984 | Mark J. Thompson | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | WHCA | |
| 1984 | David Rogers | The Wall Street Journal | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1984 | Fred Hiatt | The Washington Post | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1985 | Frank Greve | Knight Ridder Newspapers | | |
| 1985 | Jim Stewart | Cox Newspapers | | Second Place |
| 1985 | Robert L. Jackson and Ronald J. Ostrow | Los Angeles Times | | Honorable Mention |
| 1986 | Bob Adams | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | WHCA | |
| 1986 | Thomas Moore and Michael York | Knight Ridder | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1986 | James O'Shea and Douglas Frantz | Chicago Tribune | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1987 | George Anthan | The Des Moines Register | WHCA | |
| 1987 | Jim Stewart | Cox Newspapers | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1987 | Keith Epstein | The Plain Dealer | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1988 | Mark Thompson | Knight Ridder | WHCA | |
| 1988 | Don Oberdorfer | The Washington Post | WHCA | Second Place, tie |
| 1988 | Matthew Purdy | The Philadelphia Inquirer | WHCA | Second Place, tie |
| 1989 | Bill Lambrecht | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | WHCA | |
| 1989 | John Hall | Media General | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1989 | Christopher Drew & Michael Tackett | Chicago Tribune | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1989 | Jim Stewart & Andrew Alexander | Cox Newspapers | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1990 | Lee Bowman and Andrew Schneider | The Pittsburgh Press | WHCA | |
| 1990 | Christopher Scanlan | Knight Ridder | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1991 | Bill Lambrecht | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | WHCA | |
| 1991 | Tom Squitieri | USA Today | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1991 | Philip A. Kuntz | Congressional Quarterly | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1992 | Charles Shepard and Wendy Melillo | The Washington Post | WHCA | |
| 1992 | John Solomon | Associated Press | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1992 | Christopher Drew & Michael Tackett | Chicago Tribune | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1993 | Tom Squitieri | USA Today | | |
| 1993 | Peter Brown and Andrew Schneider | Scripps Howard News Service | | Second Place |
| 1994 | Susan Feeney and Steve McGonigle | The Dallas Morning News | | |
| 1994 | Jonathan Tilove | Newhouse News Service | | Second Place |
| 1994 | Lee Davidson | Deseret News | | Honorable Mention |
| 1995 | Sharon Schmickle and Tom Hamburger | Minneapolis Star Tribune | WHCA | |
| 1995 | Patrick Sloyan | Newsday | WHCA | Second Place |
| 1995 | Wendy Koch | Hearst Newspapers | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 1996 | Elizabeth Marchak | The Plain Dealer | | |
| 1996 | Keith Epstein and Bill Sloat | The Plain Dealer | | Second Place |
| 1996 | Jonathan Tilove | Newhouse News Service | | Honorable Mention |
| 1997 | Marcus Stern | Copley News Service | | |
| 1997 | Joan McKinney | Baton Rouge Advocate | | Second Place |
| 1997 | Susan Feeney | The Dallas Morning News | | Honorable Mention |
| 1997 | David Wood | Newhouse News Service | | Honorable Mention |
| 1998 | Bill Lambrecht | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | | |
| 1998 | Lee Davidson | Deseret News | | Second Place |
| 1998 | Greg Hitt and Phil Kuntz | The Wall Street Journal | | Honorable Mention |
| 1998 | Rowan Scarborough | The Washington Times | | Honorable Mention |
| 1999 | Bob Davis and Helene Cooper | The Wall Street Journal | WHCA | |
| 1999 | Richard Whittle and David Wood | The Dallas Morning News and Newhouse News Service | WHCA | Second Place |
| 2000 | John Aloysius Farrell | The Boston Globe | | |
| 2000 | David Wood | Newhouse News Service | | Second Place |
| 2000 | Michael Grunwald | The Washington Post | | Honorable Mention |
| 2001 | Sudarsan Raghavan and Sumana Chatterjee | Knight Ridder | WHCA | |
| 2001 | Jeff Nesmith and Ralph Haurwitz | Cox Newspapers | WHCA | Second Place |
| 2001 | Alan Elsner | Reuters | WHCA | Honorable Mention |
| 2002 | Greg Jaffe | The Washington Post | | |
| 2002 | Jon Sawyer | St. Louis Dispatch | | Second Place, tie |
| 2002 | Jonathan Tilove | Newhouse News Service | | Second Place, tie |
| 2003 | Jonathan Landay and Warren P. Strobel | Knight Ridder | Washington Press Club Foundation | Received the award in the Senate Press Gallery |
| 2003 | Mark Benjamin | United Press International | Washington Press Club Foundation | Second Place |
| 2004 | Greg Jaffe | The Wall Street Journal | National Journalism Awards | Award taken over by Scripps Howard |
| 2005 | Chris Adams and Alison Young | Knight Ridder Washington Bureau | National Journalism Awards | |
| 2006 | Wes Allison | St. Petersburg Times, Florida | National Journalism Awards | |
| 2007 | Marisa Taylor, Margaret Talev, and Greg Gordon | McClatchy Washington Bureau | National Journalism Awards | |
| 2008 | David Willman | Los Angeles Times | National Journalism Awards | |
| 2009 | Thomas Frank | USA Today | National Journalism Awards | |
| 2010 | Adam Liptak | The New York Times | Scripps Howard Awards | |
| 2011 | Damian Paletta | The Wall Street Journal | Scripps Howard Awards | |
| 2011 | David Cloud and W.J. Hennigan | Los Angeles Times | Scripps Howard Awards | Finalist, for "Drone Wars" |
| 2011 | Eric Lipton | The New York Times | Scripps Howard Awards | Finalist, for "The Champions" |