Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media in San Francisco, will receive the George Polk Career Award.

The Polk Awards said of Close:

For 37 years, Ms. Close has guided the pioneering efforts of New America Media, formerly known as the Pacific News Service. 

She has mentored many journalists who now work in the mainstream press, including A.C. Thompson, one of this year’s winners of the Polk Award for Television Reporting. In 1995, Ms. Close received a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” fellowship; and in 1997, she co-produced the Academy Award-winning short documentary, “Breathing Lessons.” 

Perhaps her proudest moment in journalism came in 2007, when she organized the Chauncey Bailey Project, a team of reporters whose investigative work led Oakland police to arrest those responsible for killing Mr. Bailey, who was a Polk Award-winning journalist.

New America Media is an alternative news source that supports thousands of ethnic media outlets. The presentation is set for April 6 at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus.