2009 finalists announced

Nine Finalists Include UK MEP Daniel Hannan

International Policy Network today announced the finalists for the eighth annual Bastiat Prize for Journalism and the first Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism.

P.J. O’ROURKE TO PRESENT PRIZES

Winners will be announced at the annual Bastiat Prize Dinner in New York City on 26 October, featuring journalist/author P.J. O’Rourke as the keynote speaker. “P.J. O’Rourke, one of Bastiat’s true spiritual successors, sets a high bar,” said IPN Executive Director, Julian Morris, “But the finalists all show a deep understanding of the institutions that underpin freedom and an acute ability to communicate their importance to a general audience. The final decision lies with our eminent judges –including former winners, Brian Carney and Amity Shlaes, and internet entrepreneurs Jimmy Wales, Esther Dyson and Scott Banister.”

FINALISTS, BASTIAT PRIZE FOR JOURNALISM 2009
•    Nolan Finley, Detroit News
•    Peter Foster, Financial Post
•    Robert Guest, The Economist
•    John Hasnas, for column written in Wall Street Journal
•    Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal
•    Robert Robb, Arizona Republic

FINALISTS, BASTIAT PRIZE FOR ONLINE JOURNALISM 2009
•    Shikha Dalmia, Forbes.com, Reason Foundation
•    Daniel Hannan, Telegraph.co.uk blog
•    Rohan Samarajiva, for columns written in LankaBusinessOnline

The Bastiat Prize was first awarded in 2002 and judges have included Lady Thatcher and Nobel-Prize-winners James Buchanan and Milton Friedman. The winner of the Bastiat Prize will receive US$10,000, and the winner of the Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism will receive US$3,000. They will also receive an engraved crystal candlestick - a reference to Bastiat's essay, "A Petition".

The Bastiat Prize is sponsored by International Policy Network (IPN), a London-based think tank that seeks to improve public understanding of the role of the institutions of the free society.