The story began with a confidential tip about a foul state investment into a rare-coin fund in Ohio.
But after 2004 MSU graduate and State News alumnus Steve Eder and a team of six investigative reporters, began digging deeper, they uncovered one of the biggest political scandals in Ohio's history.
When the Pulitzer Prizes were revealed Monday afternoon, the reporters from The Blade in Toledo, Ohio discovered they were finalists in the public service category — just missing what is widely considered the most prestigious honor in journalism.
"At 23 I never thought I'd be on a team that'd be a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize," said Eder, who graduated from James Madison College with a major in political theory and constitutional democracy. "The whole experience has been eye-opening to see the power of print journalism."
The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans won two Pultizer Prizes, one for public service and one for breaking news reporting for coverage of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. The paper shared the public service prize with The Sun Herald of Biloxi, Miss.
Designer Beth McCoy, a State News alumna was part of The Times-Picayune staff that evacuated its newsroom and relocated to a makeshift operation out of Baton Rouge, La. McCoy graduated in 2003 with a degree in journalism.
The former students bring pride to their alma mater, said Jane Briggs-Bunting, director of the journalism school.
This is not the first time a young MSU graduate or a former State News reporter has received a Pulitzer nod, said Stephen Lacy, a journalism professor. MSU alumnus Dick Cooper co-won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972, said Lacy, who was Eder's adviser.
"He was always pretty intense. It wouldn't surprise me if this happens again at some point in his career," Lacy said.
Makeshift newsroom
When New Orleans was first evacuated, many Times-Picayune staff members left with only with what they could carry, McCoy said. The newspaper set up a newsroom using laptop computers from a nearby office supply store and continued producing the paper about the destruction that had taken place in its home city, she said. Winning an award was far from anyone's mind.
"We were pretty much duct-taping a newspaper together," McCoy said. "People were upset because they had lost their homes too, and were experiencing this while reporting it."
'Coin-gate'
The story in Ohio began to unravel last April, with Eder joining the team soon afterward. The investigation into an Ohio state investment in a rare-coin fund revealed that more than $13 million had been lost and politicians had accepted political favors and gifts. Eder spent eight months living in a Columbus, Ohio, hotel while reporting, he said. Eder eventually wrote more than 100 stories as part of the series, including one about Bob Taft, governor of Ohio, who was convicted on ethicscharges because of the team's reporting.
"The fact is, we told a really important story that shed light on a massive scandal in Ohio. Being considered for the award itself is recognition from our peers that it was among some of the best journalism," Eder said.
