New York Times
April 6, 1958. p. 59.
Wins Overseas
Club’s Polk Prize for Castro Story—Other Newsmen Cited
Herbert L. Matthews of The New York Times has been named winner of the annual George Polk Memorial Award, the Overseas Press Club announced yesterday.
Mr. Matthews, a member of The Times’ editorial board and a former foreign correspondent, received the award for his “exceptional courage and enterprise” in going into the Cuban jungle for the first interview with Fidel Castro, the rebel leader.
The interview appeared as a series in The Times in February, 1957, together with photographs taken by Mr. Matthews.
Three other Times staff members received awards. They are Sydney Gruson, correspondent in Warsaw; Drew Middleton, chief of the London bureau, and C. L. Sulzberger, foreign affairs columnist.
The Polk Award is the Overseas Press Club’s highest honor. A citation accompanying the award to Mr. Matthews reads:
“Herbert L. Matthews, a war horse of a reporter, risked his life to get the important truth about the existence of Fidel Castro, the Cuban rebel leader. His exploit was so dangerous that Cuban Government officials refused to believe he had accomplished it. It took a picture of Matthews and Castro together to prove it.
“The articles of his exploit played down the danger, a natural reaction of a dedicated reporter who has covered more than his share of war and revolution.
“He takes his place alongside the late Robert Capa, Homer Bigart [of the Times], the late Gene Symonds, Wayne Richardson, Russell Jones, William Oatis and the other brave men of the press who dared danger often to the point of no return.”
The award consists of a bronze plaque and a $500 honorarium. It will be presented to Mr. Matthews at the club’s annual awards dinner April 29.
Other awards were:
Best press reporting, daily wire from abroad—Frank Conniff, Bob Considine and William Randolph Hearst Jr. of the Hearst Newspapers for their “Reports on the U.S.S.R.” Citations in this category went to Fernand Fauber, The Toledo Blade; Sydney Gruson, The Times; Frederick Kuh, The Chicago Sun-Times, and John P. Leacacos, The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Best photographic reporting, still or motion picture, from abroad—Lisa Larsen, Life Magazine, for her picture stories on Outer Mongolia, Poland and stranded Hungarian refugees. Citations: Jerry Cooke, Sports Illustrated; Monito Sleet Jr., Ebony magazine, and John Dominis, Life.
Best book on foreign affairs—David Schoenbrun, Columbia Broadcasting System for “As France Goes.” Citations: Drew Middleton, The Times, for “These Are the British,” and Henry A. Kissinger, Harvard University, for “Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy.”
Best radio or television reporting from abroad—Frank Kearns and Yussef Masraff, Columbia Broadcasting System, for “Algeria Aflame,” a filmed report on the Algerian rebel army. Citations: Welles Hangen, National Broadcasting Company, and Daniel Schorr, C.B.S.
Best magazine reporting of foreign affairs—James A. Michener, “The Bridge at Andau,” in The Reader’s Digest, a story of the Hungarian uprising. Citations: Robert Coughlan, Life, and Edmund Stevens and Phillip Harrington, Look magazine.
Best American press interpretation of foreign affairs—Ernest K. Lindley, Newsweek magazine, for articles on the Middle East and North Africa. Citations: Richard Fryklung, The Washington Star; Graham Hovey. The Minneapolis Star and Tribune; William L. Ryan, The Associated Press, and C. L. Sulzberger, The Times.
Best radio or television interpretation of foreign affairs—Chet Huntley, N.B.C., for his “Outlook” report on Tunisia’s special dilemma in Arab world affairs, and other “Outlook” reports. Citations: John Daly, American Broadcasting Company, and Howard K. Smith, C.B.S.
The awards committee bypassed the Robert Cappa Award for “superlative photography requiring exceptional courage and enterprise abroad” and the President’s Award “to a foreign national for his faithful adherence to the highest journalistic code under unusual harassment and political pressure.”