NEW YORK — McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Executive Editor Jim Berklan was honored for his commentary writing Friday when he was announced a winner in the 2024 Neal Awards, which are given for the nation’s best specialized business journalism.
Berklan adds this honor, often referred to as the Pulitzer Prize of the business-to-business world, to a laundry list of other journalism awards. He’s collected most since he began covering the skilled nursing sector in 2001, but previously also racked up his share of recognition as a daily newspaper editor and reporter.
“The Neal Awards are the highest honor in business-to-business journalism, so it’s fitting that they’d honor a writer whose commentary has been influencing the skilled nursing industry for more than two decades,” said Craig Roth, McKnight’s vice president and group publisher.
“Jim brings authoritative and insightful observations to our readers week after week, and both our brand and nursing home owners and operators are lucky to have him.”
A long-time editor and frequent speaker on nursing home topics, Berklan joins McKnight’s Editorial Director John O’Connor as the second writer from the brand to bring home a Neal.
Berklan’s award for commentary was garnered for three Daily Editors Notes columns he wrote in 2023.
In the first, he opined on the state of the sector as the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency approached. In “With a tip of the hat, nursing homes’ most high-profile defender heads into the sunset,” Berklan wrote in detail about one of providers’ best champions in the courtroom. And in late June, he pilloried the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services after it failed to meet its self-imposed deadline and left skilled nursing facilities in limbo waiting for staffing mandate details.
Berklan’s blogs are posted every Friday.
“Berklan’s columns transcend mere reporting; they are a testament to great, provocative service journalism — for readers both inside and outside the profession,” his nomination noted.
McKnight’s Long-Term Care News also was a finalist in a second category, Best News Coverage, for its in-depth reporting on the federal nursing home staffing mandate. Both nominations were in the mid-range revenue category.
McKnight’s parent company, Haymarket Media, won three Neals overall at an awards ceremony at New York’s famed Chelsea Piers Friday afternoon.
PRWeek won in the category of Best Art Direction for a cover for Sean Ayling’s excellent “Period Positivity” cover. And MM+M’s Marc Iskowitz won for Best Range of Work by a Single Author, his third consecutive year taking him the Neal’s top individual prize.
In all, the 70th Neal Awards recognized winners across 54 categories, narrowed down from more than 500 entries. Named after Jesse H. Neal, the first managing director of American Business Media, the Neal Awards were established in 1955 to recognize and reward editorial excellence in business media.
The program is hosted by the Software & Information Industry Association, a professional organization dedicated to connecting data, financial information, education technology, specialized content and publishing companies.
