The Herald-Sun was honored for several stories, including a series of articles by reporter Eric Ferreri about last summer's controversial reading choice -- a book about the Quran -- for incoming students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Another story by Ferreri examined how college professors use Web tools to determine if student papers have been plagiarized. A third story, by reporter Jim Shamp, looked at a Duke program that trains nurses to provide faith-based medical and spiritual care. Also, a two-part series by reporter Angela Forest focused on residents near North Carolina Central University who were being forced to sell their homes to make way for university expansion. The Herald-Sun's entry also included a historical profile, written by Ferreri, of Horace Williams, the founder of UNC's philosophy department who left more than a dozen pieces of property to the university after his death. UNC officials envision turning one 900-acre tract off Airport Road in Chapel Hill into a high-tech center where public university research mixes with private business.

Reporters Dan Kane, Tim Simmons, Jane Stancill and Trish Wilson of The News & Observer of Raleigh placed second for several stories focusing on how state budget and governance issues are affecting the University of North Carolina system.

The Green-Rossiter Award honors the contributions of William Green, who served as Duke's director of university relations and later as university vice president during Terry Sanford's presidency at Duke, and Al Rossiter Jr., who retired in 2001 after serving 10 years as director of the Duke News Service.