Political coverage in 2012 was informing and engaging and two Scripps journalists did it better than anyone else at local news outlets. The Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism announced on March 6 the 2013 winners of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism. The 2013 Cronkite Awards recognize distinguished work produced during the 2011-2012 election cycle.
For individual achievement at a broadcast station, Marshall Zelinger with KMGH in Denver won the category. The awards committee recognized him for his “clarity of presentation” and “modern production techniques.” His reporting was “thoroughly researched and well presented,” and his “truth tracker” segments included debates and speeches. When his pieces were limited by time, he put extended explanations of issues and links to related information on the KMGH website – providing what judges praised as “an additional depth” to his coverage.
Judges awarded a Special Commendation for Citizen Engagement to Tom McKee, with WCPO in Cincinnati. Judges were impressed with his extensive fieldwork, traveling the state to record 135 questions from Ohio citizens that he then presented to candidates to answer in sit-down interviews. “He did something different to bring citizens into the conversation in a very real way.” As a one-man shop, he videotaped the questions, set up the candidate interviews, wrote the scripts and oversaw postproduction. “A lot of work went into this effort, and voters got the maximum benefit from his reporting.”
“Marshall and Tom are experienced journalists who commit an incredible amount of time, energy and thought into producing relevant political stories for their knowledgeable audiences,” said Brian Lawlor, senior vice president of television. “Their efforts also extend beyond the traditional broadcast viewers because they provide additional content on all of our digital platforms. Those efforts encourage communities to get engaged in the political conversation.”
The Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism are named for distinguished journalist and longtime CBS anchor Walter Cronkite. In addition to the Cronkite/Jackson Prize jury, a panel of nine judges was chaired by Geneva Overholser, director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. In 2013, well over 100 entries – a record – were received.
“It was an especially strong field, and judges were encouraged that it was so hard to pick winners,” said USC Annenberg professor Martin Kaplan, director of USC Annenberg’s Norman Lear Center, which has administered the biennial awards since 2000. “The entries demonstrate that against long odds, TV journalists across the country are determined to get it right in a medium that most Americans still turn to in order to learn about their electoral choices.”
The awards will be presented at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C., on Friday, April 19.