( Added: June 30, 2008 ) - Enterprise Community Partners is accepting entries for the 2008 Excellence in Urban Journalism Award. Presented in partnership with the Freedom Forum, the award recognizes timely, quality reporting on major issues facing the nation's urban areas. Submissions for the 2008 award cycle must be received via email or postal mail by midnight, July 30, 2008. Winners will receive a $2500 cash award and will be recognized during the 2008 Enterprise Community Conference in Baltimore, November 19 -- 21, 2008.

The Freedom Forum and Enterprise created the Excellence in Urban Journalism Award in 1998 to recognize reporters who examine affordable housing, community development, child care and the after effects of disasters, such as the recent storms in the Midwest or Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which have left people homeless and communities in peril. The award is open to professional journalists who work in a variety of formats. Two winning entries will be selected and submissions can be written or produced by individuals or teams.

The 2007 award recipients were: The Buffalo News, "The High Cost of Being Poor" by Rod Watson and Jonathan Epstein and The Miami Herald, "House of Lies" by Debbie Cenziper.

Additional information and highlights of the 2007 winning entries are available at http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/programs/awards/.