Carol Marin, Tim Novak and Chris Fusco

Just days before it will lose more than 20 percent of its editorial staff to buyouts and layoffs, the Sun-Times won one of the nation’s most prestigious prizes for journalism. Go figure.

Reporters Tim Novak, Chris Fusco and Carol Marin were cited Sunday by the George Polk Awards in Journalism for reports that led to a conviction in the 2004 death of 21-year-old David Koschman. On an epic day for Chicago journalism, their investigation culminated in a guilty plea by a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

In announcing the prize for best local reporting, the awards committee praised Novak, Fusco and Marin for “dogged investigative reports in the face of considerable resistance by police and prosecutors over a 10-year-old homicide case involving a nephew of Richard M. Daley,” adding: “Their reporting reopened the case and led to a guilty plea by the former mayor’s nephew. A special prosecutor affirmed Sun-Times’ accounts that the killer had been shielded from prosecution in what amounted to an elaborate conspiracy.”

The juxtaposition of the Polk Award and the impending newsroom cuts underscores how deeply Chicago would feel the loss of its No. 2 daily newspaper. It’s a sad fate to consider as the Sun-Times struggles to survive with a severely diminished staff, dwindling circulation and a failure to achieve profitability under its inept and misguided current ownership.

According to an agreement negotiated with the Chicago Newspaper Guild, management has set a Wednesday deadline for editorial employees to accept voluntary buyouts. If the company’s goals are not met, layoffs will follow. Between 12 and 15 positions, representing up to 22 percent of those covered by the Guild contract, are expected to be cut.

Jim Kirk

But Monday was a day for muted celebration as Jim Kirk, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Sun-Times, congratulated his staff for the Polk Award. “In the face of some daunting challenges of an entrenched political machine, Tim Novak, Chris Fusco and Carol Marin kept pushing for the truth,” Kirk wrote in a memo. “We are far from being the biggest newsroom. But few newsrooms are better at what we do. This is a well-deserved award.”

Kirk credited his predecessor, former Sun-Times editor Don Hayner, with championing the Koschman investigation early on.

Here is the text of Kirk’s memo to Sun-Times staffers:

It would have been easy to stop at any moment in the Koschman case and say "We've done what we could." Police and prosecutor investigations somehow didn't find fault. Thankfully, three of our colleagues didn't say that. In the face of some daunting challenges of an entrenched political machine, Tim Novak, Chris Fusco and Carol Marin kept pushing for the truth.

Today we celebrate this newspaper's second Polk Award thanks to this team's relentless pursuit to find out what happened the night of the confrontation that ended in the killing of David Koschman.

As I said the other day, we are far from being the biggest newsroom. But few newsrooms are better at what we do. This is a well-deserved award. And many people helped make this series happen. As I have said before, one of those people is Don Hayner. He had the courage from the beginning to give Tim, Chris and Carol and the story the runway. Many others helped along the way.

I'm incredibly proud of Tim, Chris and Carol. I'm equally proud of how this newsroom comes together around big stories.

Please join me in congratulating our colleagues. Jim