Newspaper Wins Journalism Award for Anti-Debt Collector Series

Reporters for The Star Tribune, of Minneapolis, Tuesday were awarded a 2011 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism for their 2010 series “Hounded — Debtors and the New Breed of Collectors.”

Chris Serres and Glenn Howatt were given the award in the small and medium-sized newspaper category for their series of articles that, in the Star Tribune’s words, “investigated holes in Minnesota’s debt-collection laws that allowed some consumers to be harassed in shocking ways.”

The series featured articles that touched on a wide range of ARM practices and issues, such as deceased debt collection, consumers suing ARM companies, debtors being jailed, and the use of the court system by debt buyers. But the series also delved into more scandalous territory, including a piece that accused debt collection agencies of intentionally hiring criminals.

“Hounded” stirred up quite a bit of attention in the ARM community. The reporters did reach out to industry players occasionally, but rarely printed little more than narrow quotes from those it reached. Most of the reporting centered on the experiences of consumers and their advocates.

The Star Tribune did, however, run an Op-Ed piece that took issue with the series in October of last year.

The Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism is administered by UCLA Anderson School of Management.