KARE, WBNS, KUSA Win Cronkite Awards

By Merrill Knox 

The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism has announced the 2013 winners of the Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism.

KARE, Gannett’s NBC affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul, won for local broadcast station. The judges cited its coverage of the marriage equality debate, calling KARE’s reporting “fair, balanced and deeply personal.” WBNS in Columbus received a special commendation for citizen engagement. Denver’s KUSA was the winner of the Cronkite/Jackson Prize for Fact Checking Political Messages, a category that was just introduced to the awards this year.

Two reporters were honored for individual achievement at a local broadcast station. Marshall Zelinger, a content producer and presenter at KMGH in Denver, won for his “clarity of presentation” and “modern production techniques.” Tom McKee, a reporter at WCPO in Cincinnatti, received the special commendation for citizen engagement for his his extensive fieldwork.

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Hearst Televsion and Belo Corp. were the winners for local station group for their commitment to political journalism. “The leadership of these groups asked their stations to dedicate themselves to this mission, and the stations rose to the challenge,” according to a statement released by the University of Southern California.

WJLA in Washington, D.C., was honored jointly with NewsChannel8 and Politico in the local cable station category. Northwest Cable News was also honored.

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