A look at decades of duPont-winning election coverage

From the 2020 winner “Dark Money”

This week, national and international news coverage have been focused on the details of the 2022 midterms. For decades, the duPont-Columbia Awards have consistently recognized outstanding coverage of American elections. 

The 2022 midterms are being lauded as the most diverse in U.S. history, with multiple minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and Gen-Zers elected to offices across the country. In 1994, the duPont Awards recognized PBS and Wisconsin Public Television for “Move Over: Women and the '92 Campaign,” a report on the growing role of women in politics during the 1992 presidential election.

That same year, PBS and Frontline were recognized for “The Best Campaign Money Can Buy,” an hour-long investigation into the role money plays in controlling U.S. politics - an issue revisited by the 2020 POV on PBS winner “Dark Money,” as well as this year’s finalist, “Revealed,” from WTVF-TV Nashville & Phil Williams.

In 1998, PBS and the Center for New American Media were awarded for “Vote for Me: Politics in America,” a series of snapshots on local elections from Montana to Oklahoma and beyond. Watch the clip in our archives for a glimpse at middle-America politics in the late 90s. 

And in 2020, WSOC-TV Charlotte was awarded for the investigative series, “Something Suspicious in District 9,” which led to multiple criminal charges and the resignation of the chairman of the North Carolina Board of Elections. In our archive, you can listen to an interview with the reporters behind the story, from our podcast, “On Assignment.” 

Stay tuned for more news about this year’s duPont-Columbia Awards finalists, and for the announcement of the winners in early 2023.