Public media took home six of the 16 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards awarded Tuesday, including This American Life’s Serial, which received an inaugural award for podcasting.
Also among the winners were Arizona PBS, Frontline and WNYC in New York City. Arizona PBS’s Cronkite News, part of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, won an award for Hooked: Tracking Heroin’s Hold on Arizona, a look at the state’s heroin epidemic.
The multimedia project included a documentary that aired on all 33 broadcast TV stations in Arizona and 93 radio stations. It was the first duPont Award win for Cronkite News.
Frontline took home awards for two documentaries, one about the Ebola outbreak in Africa and another on the lives of transgender children. Ebola Outbreak and Outbreak made a two-part series about victims and caregivers dealing with the disease. Growing Up Trans investigated the lives of transgender children and the choices and possibilities they face today.
WNYC was recognized for NYPD Bruised, a months-long radio investigation of the New York City Police Department following the death of Eric Garner. WNYC reporters used public data about civilian complaints against police and found that roughly a thousand officers had 10 or more complaints filed against them.
WETA in Washington, D.C., took home an award for its Ken Burns documentary, Cancer: The Emperor Of All Maladies. Based on the book Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, the three-part, six-hour series examined the personal impact and cost of the disease as well as its science and treatment.
Judges recognized Serial for its production value, popularity and handling of its subject matter.
The duPont Awards ceremony will be held Jan. 19 at Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library.