The Kansas City Star’s parent, McClatchy Company, announced today it had awarded one of its 10 “President’s Awards for Journalism Excellence in 2012″ to Star employees Mike McGraw and Alan Bavley.

The award is for the duo’s blockbuster series titled “Beef’s Raw Edges” that capped off a year-long review of the beef industry and many of its practices. It ran three days in the Star.

The stories highlighted meat processing, overuse of antibiotics and the industry’s push to change its image. Tthe reporting process included gathering thousands of pages of research, lawsuits and data, according to an industry site.

Here is the write-up on the series from McClatchy:

The Kansas City Star
Beef’s Raw Edges
Mike McGraw and Alan Bavley

The Star’s 12-month review of the region’s beef industry delivered startling revelations with an exquisitely written project that was also a triumph in print and online presentation. The stories confronted growing and dangerous trends in meat production, raised questions about the spread of hormones into the environment and probed the way the industry is lobbying the government. The series has a book-like depth and quality, along with a presentation that urges the reader along with terrific photography, graphics and presentation. “This is one of the most exhaustive and important pieces of journalism any of us has seen this year,” the judges said.