duPont - Columbia Awards:
How They Won Them
duPont - Columbia Award Winners
Murrow (1947) and Friendly (1992)
Alfred
I. duPont - Columbia University Awards are presented annually for
overall excellence in broadcast journalism. Their purpose is to bring to
professional and public attention the best journalism and to honor individuals and
organizations that produced it. This is some of the best reporting in
television news.
The
2004 duPont Columbia Awards.
The 13 winners of Silver Batons for overall excellence went to local stations,
networks, radio and cable programs. Selected from nearly 600 submissions, the award
winners included:
WABC-TV (New York)'s Jim Hoffer and Daniela
Royes were honored for their four-part series "Caught Off Guard," about security
around U.S. naval bases.
In a series of four enterprising reports produced over several months, security around
naval bases on the east coast proved to be surprisingly vulnerable. One report was shot in
Norfolk, Virginia, coincidentally on the day terrorists blew a hole in the side of the USS
Cole while it was moored off Yemen. While military security proved tighter on land, the
reporter and photographer motored right up to submarines and battleships, even after their
first report aired.
Jim Hoffer, reporter; Daniela Royes, producer; Bryan White, photographer/editor.
KOLD-TV, Tucson, and
Chip Yost, for "Exploding Patrol Cars?"
This classic two-part investigation demonstrated the enterprise of a reporter who
examined why local police patrol cars often exploded when hit from behind, leaving
officers trapped inside when the car bursts into flames.
Chip Yost, reporter; Ed Ayala, photographer/editor; Bob Richardson, News Director.
KIRO-TV, Seattle, for "Why the Orcas of Puget Sound Are
Dying."
This one-hour documentary takes a well-known subject that is especially critical to the
Seattle region and turns it into a splendid piece of journalism that is at once
informative, affecting, urgent and thoughtful. There is breathtaking photography of whales
above and below water and superior sound recording. The scenes are seamlessly edited and
expert interviews are judiciously spliced into the main thread of the story. Viewers
easily grasp why PCB contamination, reduced supply of food and whale watching have become
what the program calls the "great harpoon of the 21st century."
Steve Raible, reporter; Ben Saboonchian, producer/writer; Tom Matsuzawa, Bill Skok,
photographers; Peter Gamba, editor; Bill Lord, News Director.
KCBS-TV, Los Angeles, and Randy Paige, for "Poison
Paint."
Reporter Randy Paige reexamines the well-known hazard to children's health, lead paint,
and finds it still to be a pervasive problem in southern California schools. In this
five-part series, Paige demonstrates on video how children rub their hands on peeling
paint and contaminate their mouths and skin. Backing up the pictures with tests measuring
the lead content on school buildings and picnic tables, Paige confronts the appropriate
school officials and state leaders. Within days of the first reports, schools began
inspections and repairs, children's blood levels were tested for lead and legislators
sprang into action. This series proves the value of reporting on new aspects of the
leading environmental health threat to children.
Randy Paige, reporter/producer; Larry Greene, Francisco Alferez, Dolores Lopez,
photographers; Clay Thornton, editor; Jennifer Cobb, Executive Producer.
The 2001 winners include:
--- KHOU-TV, Houston, and reporter Anna Werner and producer David Raziq for their
investigation of defective Firestone tires. The newsgatherers, GM
Peter Diaz and News Director Mike Devlin explained to The Rundown how they did it.
--- WCPO-TV, Cincinnati, and reporter Laure Quinlivan for exposing numerous
irregularities in the construction of a new football stadium.
--- KXLY-TV, Spokane, and reporter Tom Grant for investigative reports on public funds
spent to benefit the influential owner of a new parking garage and shopping mall.
There were several national news organizations winning too.
The awards have a long tradition. They've grown to include radio, television and cable
communication.
Initially, Jessie Ball duPont established the awards in 1942 to honor the "essential
and patriotic service" that radio and its commentators provided during the early
years of World War Two. She intended this to also be a memorial to her husband.
In the early 1900s, Alfred duPont transformed a successful Delaware gunpowder company
into the huge chemical manufacturer that it is today. Just before World War One, he bought
the Wilmington News and then obtained controlling interests in several small-town
Delaware newspapers. He used his communication power to fight for liberal and progressive
reforms in the state.
Many of the winners from hometown television stations have shared with The Rundown the
stories of how they put together their award-winning projects.
Create A Culture For Award Winners
News Directors at stations that won awards in 2000 explained their newsrooms'
approach to major stories and investigations.
Here are the details from: David
Baer, WMTW-TV, Portland; Jacques Natz, WTHR-TV, Indianapolis; and Tom
Sides of KTVX-TV, Salt Lake City;
Invest time and interest to get stories that
can't be shot quickly
WABC-TV, New York, won a prestigious duPont-Columbia Award for a documentary about serious
overcrowding in New York City schools. There were youngsters doing their work in the hall
while their teacher worked to keep under control 44 children in one classroom.
News Director Bart Feder explained how reporter
Celeste Ford and photographer Robert Caccamise documented the school conditions. (1998)
The 1988 Winners: How They Did It
Here are details of three winners:
--- Florida: State of Neglect. Severe mistreatment of abused
children, the mentally challenged, and the elderly was revealed by WPLG-TV, Miami.
--- Jacksonville's Roads: The Deadly Drive Home. Highway hazards
and construction design help kill many motorists. This was documented by
WJXT-TV, Jacksonville.
--- Sauget: City of Shame. A tiny town was being operated by
politicians as a haven for virtually unsupervised alcohol sales and consumption. The
story was broken by KMOV-TV, St. Louis.
Since 1981, The Rundown has reported weekly on local television
news, programming, and community service projects.
Many top television broadcasting newspeople have explained how they covered stories,
created successful news operations and resolved management problems. They have
shared their advice. The 6,000 - 7,000 pages of material easily represents the
most extensive record of modern local television news and public service.
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NPPA Video Awards
NPPA's TV News Photographer of the Year, TV News Photography Station of the Year, and
Editor of the Year awards are the highest honors in TV news photography.
Peabody Awards
National competition based at University of Georgia
George
Polk Awards
Long Island University honors
the memory of CBS reporter George Polk, slain in Greece in 1948 while trying
to reach insurgent leaders for an interview.
2001 Christopher Awards
Christopher Awards are presented to the producers, directors and writers of books, motion
pictures and television specials which affirm the highest values of the human spirit.
TV News Investigations
Here are specifics of projects executed in recent years. Corrupt
politicians, identity thieves, sentencing patterns and more.
Television
Now
Links to resources that provide you with the latest industry information.
How To Do Successful Television
Here are ideas from top news managers, anchors and reporters.
Investigative Reporters and Editors
IRE provides extensive resoruces, including access to The National Institute for
Computer-Assisted Reporting.
National Press Photographers
Association
The central place for the latest photojournalism material .
Broadcast Education Association
For more than 40 years, the BEA has helped students and teachers of broadcast journalism
in many ways.
Journalism Education Association
This organization serves educators with many services.
Do You Want A Career in Television?
Here's what you need to know. Students or parents studying a broadcasting career path must
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