2009 duPont-Columbia Award Winners
In a special program hosted by Katie Couric and Ira Glass, the duPont-Columbia University Awards announced the 12 winners and 1 Gold Baton recipient of this year's duPont Awards.
GOLD BATON - WFAA Dallas
For its ongoing commitment to outstanding investigative reporting in public service, WFAA is honored with the Gold Baton—the first local station to win the Gold Baton since it was instituted 20 years ago.
The station is recognized for three exemplary investigative reports: about corruption and waste at the Export-Import bank of the United States, grade changing for failing high school athletes, and the danger posed by aging gas pipeline couplings.
The winning reports are “A Passing Offense,” “Money for Nothing,” and “The Buried & The Dead,”
The Other War: Afghanistan - ABC News, Nightline
A harrowing look at the frontlines of eastern Afghanistan as a U.S. army platoon battles the Taliban.
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? - California Newsreel | Vital Pictures PBS
A seven-part, four-hour series that investigates health disparities in the United States and finds they are related to income and race.
The Giant Pool of Money - Chicago Public Radio | PRI | NPR | Alex Blumberg | Adam Davidson | This American Life
A story about the beginnings of the recent economic collapse, told in a way that makes a complex story accessible to a wide radio and web audience.
God's Warriors - CNN
A six-hour documentary series on the rise of religious fundamentalism and its impact on world events.
From Russia with Hate - Current TV | Christof Putzel
A courageous report about the neo-Nazi movement in Russia and its use of the Internet to spread hate.
Cinemax's Reel Life: The Blood of Yinghzhou District - HBO | Thomas Lennon | Ruby Yang
A documentary about the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic on children in rural China.
Sexual Abuse of Native American Women - NPR, All Things Considered
A two-part series that exposes gross injustice to women on reservations, and the callous inability of bureaucracies to address the problem.
Coverage of the Chengdu Earthquake - NPR | All Things Considered | Melissa Block | Robert Siege
Outstanding on-the-scene reporting of a major breaking news event done with extraordinary skill, sensitivity, and nimbleness.
The Silent Invasion - Oregon Public Broadcasting
A documentary about invasive plants, animals, and insects - and the threats they pose to the environment and agriculture.
Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story - Safari Media | ITV | PBS | Independent Lens
A powerful portrait of a family’s suffering after their daughter is abducted.
Drilling for Dollars: Children's Dentistry Investigation - WJLA-TV Washington DC
A series of investigative reports on a chain of dental clinics that exposed small children to unnecessary and painful treatments in a scheme to profit from Medicaid.
Small Town Justice - WTVT-TV Tampa
A series of investigative reports about the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of a man that helped free him.