McClatchy’s Washington bureau chief has won the Nieman Foundation’s first I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence for pre-Iraq war coverage.

The foundation said John Walcott’s reporting team stood out for its skeptical coverage of the Bush administration’s rationale for the Iraq invasion. Nieman Curator Bob Giles called Walcott a “dogged” editor who challenged justifications for the war that later proved false.

Walcott was working as Knight Ridder’s Washington bureau chief during the run-up to the war. Knight Ridder has since been bought by McClatchy.

The medal is given by the Harvard-based foundation to a journalist whose work it says shows independence and integrity. It will be presented at the Newseum in Washington D.C. in October.