James Garson

The 2006 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded to James Risen and Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy for their investigative report "Domestic Spying."

The Times revealed that the government, in the name of national security, was systematically tapping into international telephone calls and e-mail traffic in the U.S. without court warrants.

Investigative reporters who also uncovered information about U.S. policy toward Iraq were rewarded last night at the Kennedy School of Government with a prize of $25,000.

The second annual Goldsmith Awards were given to those achieving excellence in investigative reporting and book writing.

The prizes for investigative reporting were awarded to Douglas Frantz and Murray Waas of The Los Angeles Times for their series on U.S. government policy toward Iraq.

Waas spoke on behalf of the L.A. Times team, explaining their efforts to expose "Iraqgate."

He stressed the inverse connection between domestic well-being and covert foreign policy.

"People have a right to know the secret history of how these [foreign policy] decisions are made in their name," Murray Waas told the audience.