KING’s investigative series into the state of special education in Washington was recognized with an award for excellence in reporting on disability. KING is the first television station to be recognized by the Ruderman Award contest. “To be the only news station to ever win this award is a huge honor for our entire team,” said Cheryl Carson. KING’s news director.
According to federal law, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), “To the maximum extent possible, children with disabilities … are educated with children who are not disabled … with the use of supplemental aids and services.”
A KING Seattle investigation found that Washington schools exclude students with disabilities from general education settings more often than schools in nearly every other state in the country.
“These kids isolated in a class like a Leper colony or something,” is how one parent described it.
KING, Tegna’s NBC affiliate, uncovered Washington’s poor track record of helping students with disabilities in a series of reports this year.
One of the stories, Back of the Class: Lack of Inclusion, was recognized by The National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a second place Katherine Schneider Medal Contest, part of the 2018 Ruderman Foundation Awards for Excellence in Reporting on Disability.
KING is the first television station to be recognized by the Ruderman Award contest.
“To be the only news station to ever win this award is a huge honor for our entire team,” said Cheryl Carson, KING’s news director.
“It further inspires us to get it right — our reporting, the stories we tell and the conversations we have with our community.”
“This is a real privilege for our work to be recognized by a group that, every day, works to support journalists who cover people with disabilities,” said Susannah Frame, KING’s chief investigative reporter.
“For many years the KING 5 Investigative Unit has been committed to uncovering injustices faced by children and adults with disabilities,” Frame added. “And we’re so fortunate to have a management team that supports in-depth, long-term projects such as this one on special education in the state of Washington.”
Back Of The Class is a multi-part, on-going investigation into the state of special education in Washington. Click here to see all the reports.
The 2018 Ruderman Foundation Awards for Excellence in Reporting on Disability is the only journalism contest devoted exclusively to recognizing excellence in the coverage of people with disabilities and disability issues. The program is administered by the National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Since its inception in 2013 it has seen entries from all over the United States and around the world, including Germany, Zambia, Somalia and the Philippines.
The 2018 honorees will be recognized in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 8. A complete list of winners with links to the winning entries can be found at ncdj.org.
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