She received the award in late April. It's named after Jim Batten, reporter, editor and publishing executive for Knight Ridder, who died in 1995.

Schultz is a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. She won the award for her feature stories and columns that reflect "compassion, courage, humanity and a deep concern for the underdog."

A former editor of the Daily Kent Stater, Schultz was a freelance writer for 15 years before joining the Plain Dealer in 1993. She began writing a column a year and a half ago.

Last year, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing for a series of articles about a man who spent 13 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The series, entitled "The Burden of Innocence," won Best of Show in the National Headliner Awards and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting. She also has been honored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Associated Press Society of Ohio, and the Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.

"Connie Schultz's work is brilliant, both for the quality of her reporting and her compelling story telling," the panel of judges said. "Schultz is an insightful and compassionate writer whose work reflects the values of Jim Batten."