Last week, in a ceremony at the New York Public Library, New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayerreceived the Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism for The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals. The Bernstein Award is presented annually to recognized “an outstanding journalist whose book has drawn public attention to important current issues or events.” Mayer, flanked here by selection committee chair James F. Hoge and NYPL president Paul LeClerc, described how she took inspiration from the men and women who resisted the Bush Administration’s unconstitutional policies, including the use of torture, while she was telling their stories in the magazine and, subsequently, in the book. “As a native New Yorker and child and grandchild of New Yorkers,” she added, “I am especially moved that my work is being recognized by the Library which is such an iconic symbol of the cultural grandeur of this City.”