2003 duPont-Columbia Award Winners
In a special program, the duPont-Columbia University Awards announced 12 winners and 1 Gold Baton recipient.
GOLD BATON: A Series of Seven Programs on PBS About the Origin and Impact of Terrorism by Islamic Militants - WGBH-TV Boston
"FRONTLINE" has created an encyclopedia of terrorism for television with these seven documentaries. Just two days after 9/11, "FRONTLINE" updated its 1999 report on Osama bin Laden to explain the genesis of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Over the following months, "FRONTLINE" continued to weave together varying viewpoints and disparate plot lines with extraordinary clarity, often collaborating with the Canadian Broadcasting Company, the British Broadcasting Company and the New York Times.
The winning pieces are "Hunting bin Laden," "Target America," "Looking for Answers," "Trail of a Terrorist,""Gunning for Saddam," "Saudi Time Bomb," and "Inside the Terror Network."
Coverage of 9/11 and Answering Children's Questions - ABC News Television and Radio
Intelligent and restrained television and radio coverage, respectful of the truth and horror of the events of 9/11.
Nightline: Heart of Darkness - ABC News
This ambitious five-part series on “Nightline” lays bare the ongoing war in the Congo that has claimed more than 2.5 million lives in the last few years alone.
La Doble Desaparecida - CNN en Espanol and Jorge Gestoso
This long-form investigative report examines the infamous Argentine "Dirty War" of the 1970s in which the military dictatorship kidnapped and killed thousands of the country’s citizen, secretly disposing of their bodies so that they become "the Disappeared."
Ghosts of Attica - Court TV and Lumiere Productions
This two-hour documentary examines why prisoners rioted at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York in 1971 and what happened after state troopers stormed the prison, killing 29 inmates and 10 prison guards.
In Memorium: New York City, 9/11/01 - HBO
This brilliantly produced one-hour documentary is the definitive time capsule of Sept. 11.
Culture of Hate: Who are We? - KPBS-TV San Diego and Lee Harvey
Completed after the notorious school shootings in Colorado and California, the program is impressionistic, empathetic and complex.
Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - NBC News | Martin Fletcher
These reports on the Israeli government actions are equally balanced, a model of fairness and consistency even in the face of immediate danger.
Coverage of 9/11 and the War in Afghanistan - NPR
The depth of NPR's reporting and technical staff is proven in the radio network's coverage of 9/11 and the subsequent war in Afghanistan.
The Smith Family - POV | Tasha Oldman | Small Town Productions on PBS
In this 90-minute independently produced documentary, a perfect Mormon family, the Smiths, becomes reconciled to living with and dying from AIDS.
Surviving Torture: Inside Out - WBUR-FM Boston
Correspondent Michael Goldfarb paints a searing portrait of the psychological scars of torture in this radio documentary about the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture in Britain.
Chronicle: Beyond the Big Dig - WCVB-TV Boston
This is an excellent example of enterprising, local community service by a ground-breaking television program now in its 21st season.
Fake Drugs, Real Lives - WFAA-TV Dallas | Brett Ship | Mark Smith
In a series of 16 reports, WFAA’s investigative unit uncovered how Dallas police department informants planted powdered gypsum as evidence to convict poor and immigrant defendants on drug charges.
American Experience: Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film - WGBH-TV Boston on PBS
History, art, environmentalism and the creative process are the themes of this 90-minute biography about the great American nature photographer, Ansel Adams.