1983 duPont-Columbia Award Winners
In a special program, the duPont-Columbia University Awards announced 13 winners and 20 Special Citation recipients.
World News Roundup - Dallas Townsend & CBS News
For 25 years the voice of Dallas Townsend has meant intelligent, incisive reporting and editing on CBS' durable and distinguished "World News Roundup". A radio newsman since 1942, Townsend has covered 18 political conventions, nine presidential elections, two decades of space exploration, the murders of John F. Kennedy and John Lennon. No other newsman of our day has had a broader acquaintance with news nor communicated it with more economy and precision.
The Economics of Water - KAIT-TV
A declining water table and the soaring demand for what water remains are concerns that Arkansas shares with many other states in the union. KAIT-TV, a two-time DuPont-Columbia winner serving the nation's 176th market, demonstrated once again that a small station can do an outstanding job on a big, complicated and hard-to-communicate subject.
McClelland Care Facility - KMTV-TV
Despite impediments put in their way by authorities and attacks by the principals involved and other local media, reporter Gene Greer and his colleagues stuck with the story of mistreatment of the inmates of a local public care facility through six weeks and 13 investigative reports. Their persistence was justified when the superintendent of the home and two of his staff were dismissed on the recommendations of a grand jury.
Probe Five | KLS-TV
The revelations of broadcast journalism do not inevitably lead to corrective action. However, the investigative efforts of Probe Five had particularly gratifying results. Worth of note were "Ponzi or Profit?", a five-month effort which finally blew the whistle on a get-rich-quick pyramid scheme which had bilked a thousand residents of Utah and neighboring states of tens of millions of dollars. Another Probe Five success was "The Needy versus the Greedy", which demonstrated how easy it was for unscrupulous citizens to defraud the government via unemployment and food stamp programs and led to a quick restructuring of local agencies.
Human Cargo - WPLG-TV
Unauthorized immigrants have become a major problem in southern Florida. WPLG wins its third DuPont Columbia honor with this five-part inquiry into the victimization of Haitians by their countrymen and the futile efforts of U.S. law enforcement agencies trying to cope with the growing horde of refugees arriving on Florida shores. A clear and disturbing picture of a local, national and international dilemma.
Epidemic! Why Your Kid Is on Drugs WXIA-TV
The use and abuse of drugs and alcohol by American youth is hardly a new subject. However, this major documentary uncovered new and frightening facts and marshalled them in a way that was difficult to ignore. The unblinking cataloguing of cause and effect - including TV's own complicity - sounded an essential warning and reminder to local community and nation alike.
Investigative Reporting - KNXT-TV
In the 1981-1982 season KNXT reporters covered thoroughly and resourcefully a host of topics ranging from housing discrimination, alcoholism in Hollywood, misuse of Medicare funds by alcohol treatment programs, barrio youth gangs and the controversial Mexican cancer clinics, to how and why a traffic ticket and a night in a suburban jail ended in death for a promising young black athlete. In many instances their coverage led to corrective government action in the area concerned.
Air Florida Crash Coverage - WJLA-TV
Heroism and courage in the wake of tragedy made the grueling footage caught and comented on by cameraman Chester Panzer unique among this year's or any year's chronicles of disaster. Chance gave Panzer a head start on the painful story, which he built on with a sure sense of what is necessary and appropriate in covering such an event.
All the King's Horses - WMAQ-TV
Nine months went into the making of this sensitive and inspiring document on the heartbreak and heroism involved in raising and rehabilitating impaired children as represented by a half dozen families associated with Chicago's Misericordia Homes. The program was outstanding proof that broadcasters need not always employ their talents to uncover crime and corruption.
Closeup: The Gene Merchants - ABC-TV
The exploitative potential of a major scientific breakthrough was the primary focus of this brilliant treatment of the promising and dangerous new worlds opened up to the argonauts of genetic engineering. Besides bringing us up to date, the program confronted squarely the profound moral, ethical and religious questions gene engineers and their promoters must face.
Viewpoint - ABC-TV
The bravest new TV series of the year, in which ABC regularly gave its critics access to network space to air their grievances. Expertly anchored by Ted Koppel, it responded to the genuine need of TV's self-styled victims and living-room kibitzers to answer back - providing them with the electronic equivalent of an op-ed page and letters-to-the-editor column.
CBS Reports: People Like Us - CBS-TV
Without shrillness or special pleading, Bill Moyers presented closeups of three Americans and their families for whom recent cutbacks in social programs meant personal disaster. A sobering document for those who felt a drastically modified safety net would continue to catch and support the truly needy.
For Export Only: Pesticides and Pills WNET-TV & Thirteen
Two hours devoted to a controversial topic of urgent importance to America and the countries to which we export those pesticides and medications whose sale is controlled or prohibited within our own borders. The producer pursued his elusive subject over five continents and spent a total of two years in the writing, shooting and editing of this powerful indictment of the indifferent and profit-hungry who make such traffic possible.
Special Citations
Assignment '81, KNX, Los Angeles, CA
Among the few remaining regularly scheduled documentary series on local radio, these half-hour reports broadcast in prime "drive time" combined subjects of consequence with sensitive human-scale reporting. Among the topics of local and national concern were the decline of the nursing profession, the housing crisis, immigration reform and civil defense.
The Vietnam Era, KQDS, Duluth, MN
Memories of the only war the nation has fought and lost recollected in tranquility and brought up to date. Getting the local participants, both those who fought the war and fought against it, to recapture and express their feelings was a remarkable and valuable exercise in reconciliation.
Oregon Hurricane, KWIP, Dallas, OR
On the evening of Friday, November 13, 1981, the worst storm in nearly a quarter of a century struck the northwestern United States. KWIP, on the air barely nine months, and with a license permitting it to broadcast daily from 6 a.m. to sunset, went back on the air to warn and inform the residents of Oregon, northern California, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. With one full-time newsperson, it mobilized its staff of fewer than 10 and provided the only continuous coverage of the emergency.
In Retrospect ... Abortion, WHRO, Norfolk, VA
Shrillness has been the usual mode for spokespeople on both sides of the emotion-packed subject of abortion. WHRO in a brief 46 minutes managed to break the subject down to its human components, presenting a series of probing yet tactful interviews with women who looked back -- some with regret, others with relief -- on an experience which still remains one of the principal unresolved human and political dilemmas of the decade.
The Bronco Billy Witness, WJBC, Bloomington, IL
A disk jockey alerts the local authorities of the imminent torching of a night club, which despite his warning is allowed to take place. The story that results, simply and straightforwardly reported, illuminated a major national concern -- why usually law-abiding citizens don't want to become involved in the criminal justice system.
Why Me? & The Front Line, KDIN-TV, Des Moines, IA
The versatility and breadth of interest of one small market operation was clearly demonstrated in these two documentaries: one on the fears, second thoughts and angry confusion which the victims experience following violent crimes; the other on the continuing battle between the nation's farmers and its energy producers who would give preference to the needs of city dwellers and industry.
Year of the Eagle & Cheating Death, WHA-TV, Madison, WI and the Wisconsin Educational Television Network
Visual beauty and sophistication of approach as well as optimism characterized these two documentaries, which took this midwestern station's staff to both coasts in search of its wide-ranging stories: first, the current status of the bald eagle, the nation's symbol, which may be winning the battle against extinction from guns and chemicals; second, the search for an "antidote to death," which could lead to the extension of human life.
Nuclear Waste: The Gulf Coast Time Bomb, WLOX-TV Biloxi, MS
Big news came to this market of fewer than 100,000 homes when the federal government announced the possibility of locating a nuclear waste repository in southern Mississippi. WLOX's response was prompt and thorough, giving the national background of a highly controversial subject and exploring local opinion and possible impact.
I-Team, WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, MN
For the sixth time the news staff of this outstanding station has won the admiration of the duPont-Columbia jurors; in this instance, the work of its newly established I-Team was selected for special praise. Among the stories they handled with distinction were a series on a TV pitchman who sold thousands of dollars worth of unnecessary services to Minnesota home owners, and another on the strange activities of a small town's benefactor who turned out to be a big-time crook.
News Coverage and Investigative Reporting, WTVF-TV, Nashville, TN
Throughout the year, WTVF-TV demonstrated its consistent intention to serve its community, whether it was by doing a multipart series on the relationship between blacks and whites, or by informing parents and commuters of how to cope with the unfamiliar problems presented by a freak snow storm. Among the long list of topics carefully and expertly examined were prison overcrowding, television's influence on children, drunk drivers, integration in the school system, hunger, the police and guns, and teacher burnout.
The Splice of Life, KQED-TV, San Francisco, CA
Genetic engineering and its implications -- good and bad -- for everything from agriculture and human health to the stock market was the lead story on the scientific front for the year. KQED, a leading public broadcasting station, brought to it the intelligence, authority and thoroughness it deserved.
Investigative Reporting, WFAA-TV, Dallas, TX
This outstanding Texas station continued its long history of looking into and correcting misbehavior on the part of Texas politicians and entrepreneurs by coverage of the wildlife, irregularities in state purchasing contracts and misuse of funds raised for the blind. These reports, as well as the excellent "Closeup" series, which pursued such substantial stories as drug and electronics smuggling, substandard prison and jail conditions and the treatment of refugees from San Salvador, led to a third duPont-Columbia honor for WFAA.
No Place Like Home, WNET/THIRTEEN, NY
The nation's elderly population continues to grow, with very few long-range plans being made for the turn of the century, when every fifth person will be over 60. This hour-long documentary, presided over by the 81-year-old Helen Hayes, explored the problem and possible solutions with an admirable lack of the sentimentality and guilt that usually surround this subject.
Closeup: The Oil Game, ABC-TV
It took ABC economics editor Dan Cordtz and the Closeup team a year to sort out the tangle of big oil, big money, politics and attempted regulation, which according to Congressman Albert Gore resulted in "the largest fraud in monetary terms that has ever been committed on the American public." A difficult and controversial subject, ably handed.
ABC Special: FDR, ABC-TV
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ABC mobilized the majority of its news staff and devoted its entire prime-time schedule to a superbly researched and edited profile of one of the most fascinating men in United States history.
60 Minutes: What About the U.N.?, CBS-TV
A particularly excruciating example of bureaucratic ineptitude in facing human suffering was vividly caught in this segment of television's premier magazine show. Ed Bradley reported succinctly and devastatingly on the avoidable tragedy that resulted from the U.N. bungling when famine struck Uganda in the spring of 1980.
The Crisco Kid, Jeanne Wolf and South Carolina Educational Television
A brave attempt to present the excruciating lot of a 10-year-old boy doomed to disfigurement, pain and ultimate death by a rare skin disorder. The half-hour managed to convey how such an affliction affects those suffering from it and those in close association with the victims.
Middletown, Peter Davis and WQED-TV, Pittsburgh, PA
Six years in the making, this six-hour series added up to the human document of the year -- an original, penetrating and sympathetic look at just how middle America deals with religion, sports, marriage, making a living, and politics. A major achievement.
Media Probes: Political Spots, Kit Laybourne, Michael Lemle, and WQED-TV, Pittsburgh, PA
This program on political spots approached its subject with wit and literacy. At the same time, it managed to make the telling social point that American voters are being expertly manipulated by a highly intelligent and cynical fraternity of ad men.
Soldier Girls, Joan Churchill, Nicholas Broomfield and PBS
Boot camp, 12-mile hikes, sadistic sergeants, the subversion of the weak and sensitive: we know it well, only this time the victims of military brutality are women. The result is a stunning and revealing dissection of the military mentality from yet another angle.