The duPont-Columbia Awards for excellence in broadcast journalism were announced yesterday. (Disclosure: I am a duPont juror.) The winners give me hope for journalism at large and small markets, at networks and in independent documentary work.
Click on the program descriptions and be inspired. Here are the winners:
- CBS News for 60 Minutes: The Mother of All Heists
- Chicago Public Radio, Alix Spiegel & PRI for This American Life: Which One of These Is Not Like the Others?
- Florentine Films/Hott Productions & WETA-TV, Washington, DC, for Through Deaf Eyes on PBS
- Ricki Stern & Annie Sundberg HBO, for The Trials of Darryl Hunt
- KHOU-TV, Houston, for Rules of the Game
- KMOV-TV, St. Louis, for Left Behind: The Failure of East St. Louis Schools
- KNOE-TV, Monroe, La., for Names, Ranks and Serial Plunder: The National Guard and Katrina
- MSNBC & Richard Engel for War Zone Diary
- NBC News for Dateline: The Education of Ms. Groves
- National Public Radio & Daniel Zwerdling for Mental Anguish and the Military
- Paladin Invision, London, & WETA, Washington, D.C., for Jihad: The Men and Ideas Behind Al Qaeda on PBS
- WBBM-TV, Chicago, for Fly At Your Own Risk
- WFAA-TV, Dallas, for Television Justice
I should point out that three of the duPonts went to Belo-owned stations (KHOU, WFAA, KMOV), which may say something about who is doing serious investigative work these days. NBC's Dateline won a duPont, but WFAA won one, too, for investigating NBC Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" project.
Sports-related Winter Injuries
Winter sports are tons of fun, but pediatric trauma centers say they see a significant number of sports-related injuries this time of year.
Just look at the number of accidents that have occured around the country. Many stem from people riding snowmobiles.
Allheadlinenews.com reports:
"We see a startling number of injuries among children, from sledding accidents to snowmobile crashes and beyond," says Amy Teddy, manager of the pediatric injury prevention program at University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Experts advise that helmets should be worn when snowboarding, sledding, snowmobiling and skiing, especially by children under the age of 12. More than 70,000 head injuries occur from sledding and other similar activities each year, according to a study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The Cheboygan (MI) Daily Tribune reports:
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
officials have reviewed fatality statistics and concluded that there
are three major factors involved in the majority of fatal accidents.
According
to DNR officials, alcohol consumption, a collision, and an accident
that occurred off a groomed (plowed) snowmobile trail.
The
International Snowmobile Congress in June 2002 endorsed a zero-percent
blood alcohol level as the only acceptable level for riding a
snowmobile.
The CBC reports that drinking while snowmobiling is becoming a bigger problem in Canada. According to a report released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information last year, almost half (49 percent) of all snowmobile accidents from 2003 to 2004 were alcohol-related. That's
almost double the figure of 26 percent just three years earlier. (
See full report)
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says:
The CPSC estimates that each year
about 110 people die while riding snowmobiles. The Commission estimates
that about 13,400 hospital emergency room-treated injuries occur each
year with snowmobiles. Approximately two-fifths or 40 percent of the
reported deaths resulted from colliding with trees, wires, bridges, and
other vehicles. Some deaths occurred when the snowmobile rolled to the
side in a ditch or stream and pinned the operator under the vehicle.
Deaths also have occurred when the snowmobile entered water, mostly
when it was operating on ice and fell through.
The CPSC offers these tips:
1. Never drive your snowmobile alone or on unfamiliar ground. Have
someone ride along with you so you can help each other in case of
breakdown or accident.
2. Drive only on established and marked trails or in specified use areas.
3. Avoid waterways. Frozen lakes and rivers can be fatal. It is almost impossible to judge adequate ice coverage or depth.
4. Avoid driving in bad weather. Check warnings for snow, ice and wind chill conditions before starting.
5. Watch the path ahead to avoid rocks, trees, fences (particularly barbed wire), ditches and other obstacles.
6. Slow down at the top of a hill. A cliff, snowbank or other unforeseen hazard could be on the other side.
7. Don't hurdle snowbanks. You have control only when your skis are on the ground.
8. Learn the snowmobile traffic laws and regulations for the area. Many
states prohibit using snowmobiles on public roads. Some states have
minimum age requirements for drivers.
9. Be sensible about stopping at roads or railroad tracks. Signal your
turns to other drivers. Avoid tailgating. Control speed according to
conditions.
10. Use extra caution if driving at night, as unseen obstacles
could be fatal. Do not drive faster than your headlights will allow you
to see. Do not open new trails after dark.
11. Never drink while driving your snowmobile. Drinking and driving can prove fatal.
12. Be sure the snowmobile is properly maintained in good operating
condition. Some cases report that the throttle sticks, leading to loss
of control. Snowmobiles manufactured before 1983 may not have a
"throttle interruption device" designed to shut off the snowmobile in
the event the throttle sticks.
There are lots of snowmobile clubs around the country.
Here is a sample of what I found on clubs in Minnesota.
Publishing Even Without Electricity
The Rural Blog tells the story of heroic small newspapers that still got the news out about the winter storm last week even without electricity.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
