Pulitzer Center Update

'The Land Alcoa Dammed' Honored in SABEW's 23rd Annual Best in Business Competition

March 16, 2018 | Awards
By
Alyssa Sperrazza
The sky at dusk is cut by the orange glow of the refinery at the Paranam Operations for Suralco, a subsidiary of Alcoa. The plant is no longer operational. Image by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Suriname, 2017.

The sky at dusk is cut by the orange glow of the refinery at the Paranam Operations for Suralco, a subsidiary of Alcoa. The plant is no longer operational. Image by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Suriname, 2017.

Three Pulitzer Center grantees have been recognized in the SABEW's 23rd annual Best in Business competition for their story, The Land Alcoa Dammed, originally published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Written by Rich Lord and Len Boselovic, and photographed by Stephanie Strasburg, the story shows Suriname's struggle to share resources with Alcoa, a Pittsburgh aluminum company and major employer in the tiny Caribbean nation. 

Their story is a part of a larger project funded by the Pulitzer Center, Stranded and Strapped: After 100 Years in Suriname, Alcoa Decamps, a four-part series covering Alcoa's messy departure from Suriname after 100 years in the country. The company leaves a hydroelectric dam, multiple company towns, a long-loyal workforce, and a struggling economy in its wake. 

A non-profit, independent organization, SABEW works to "encourage comprehensive reporting of economic events without fear or favoritism and to upgrade skills and knowledge through continuous educational efforts."