Dayton Daily News honored for reporting
Dayton Daily News honored for reporting
By JOHN CURRAN
The Associated Press
3/2/2004, 4:51 p.m. ET
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The Dayton Daily News won top honors in the 70th annual National Headliner Awards competition for an investigative report about the hazards of Peace Corps volunteer work.
Denver station KMGH-TV was honored for its reporting on a sex-abuse scandal at the Air Force Academy, contest organizers announced Tuesday.
Both entries won for investigative reporting in their respective categories and were named "Best of Show" by judges for the annual contest, which is sponsored by The Press Club of Atlantic City.
The awards will be presented at a May 15 banquet in Atlantic City. The Best of Show winners — in print, photography, radio and television — each get $1,500 prizes.
In the Dayton Daily News' seven-part series, "Casualties of Peace," reporters Russell Carollo and Mei-Ling Hopgood examined the safety of Peace Corps workers who risk life and limb to serve others.
"Bravo to the Dayton Daily News for its perseverance, its dedication of resources and for just caring enough to get out the story of how hazardous being a Peace Corps volunteer can be," the Headliner judges said.
KMGH's winning entry, "Honor and Betrayal: Scandal at the Academy," spotlighted sexual assault allegations at the Colorado Springs, Colo., service academy.
"Balanced, fair, exhaustive and ultimately a very important probe of a sex-abuse scandal at the U.S. Air Force Academy. A fine example of journalism that produced results at the highest levels," the judges wrote.
In photography, Kuni Takahashi of the Boston Herald won best spot news photograph and best of show overall for his image of U.S. Marines in combat.
In radio, WCPN/WVIZ ideastream of Cleveland won for a documentary about country musician Hank Williams.
The "Hank Williams — Still Cookin'" documentary, by David Barnett and Al Dahlhausen, won for best documentary and Best of Show in the radio division.
"A stunning mix of music, natural sound, interviews and writing; this anniversary tribute to Hank Williams is a fine piece of very creative journalism as well as entertaining radio. Williams would be proud," judges said.
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