The 2023 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards have been announced and among the winners are five TV stations.

The awards, established in 1942, honor excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and are considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism.

WBRZ Baton Rouge, La.

Murder, Lies, Hidden Evidence: Holding Louisiana State Police accountable

Following a tip, WBRZ’s investigative team obtained internal emails and leaked video of the death of an unarmed Black man in police custody and exposed a pattern of deception at the highest levels of the Louisiana State Police. WBRZ is an ABC affiliate owned by the Manship family.

The results from the ongoing story led to a complete shake-up in Louisiana State Police. Multiple official investigations were launched, including a civil rights-focused inquiry by the United States Department of Justice. Two top-level officials at LSP resigned, and in December 2022, a Union Parish grand jury indicted five law enforcement officers on felony counts related to Greene’s death.

“Great investigative journalism is the impetus for change,” says Jonathan Shelley, WBRZ’s news director. “It takes passion and persistence to make it happen. The Investigative Unit is committed to that cause.”

KARE Minneapolis-St. Paul

The GAP: Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect

In this special report, A. J. Legoe, KARE investigative reporter, followed the trail of violent criminals with severe mental illness, who end up back on the streets after they are judged incompetent to stand trial. KARE is an NBS affiliate owned by Tegna.

The report detailed fatal gaps in Minnesota’s mental health and legal systems that stretched far beyond Buffalo. KARE explained how suspects charged with serious crimes – but found mentally incompetent to stand trial – too often go untreated and the public goes unprotected.

WXIA Atlanta

#Keeping

WXIA, Tegna’s NBC affiliate, reported a special needs child was mysteriously abandoned in an emergency room in the middle of the night. That single incident resulted in a profoundly insightful series, fueled by a reporter’s determination to surface a disturbing flaw in Georgia’s social safety net.

KXAS Dallas-Ft. Worth

Paper Tag Nation

KXAS, an NBC O&O, aired a remarkable series of investigative reports that took an obscure topic – paper license plates – and uncovered an entire underworld of criminal activity, proving that public interest journalism can be as dramatic as an action movie.

The eye-opening series of reports exposes how security gaps at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) allowed criminals to obtain car dealer licenses and then sell hundreds of thousands of fraudulent temporary license plates, some of which were used on cars involved in other serious crimes.

WTVF Nashville

NewsChannel 5 Investigates: Revealed

This in-depth investigative series by WTVF, a Scripps CBS affiliate, on the inner workings of the Tennessee Legislature followed the money and the relationships between politicians and lobbyists that actually drive the legislative agenda.

New Jobs Posted To TVNewsCheck

CLICK HERE to see new jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center including openings for a general sales manager, an assistant chief engineer, a multi-media journalist, a sales account executive, a producer and reporter to work remotely on a new national daily news magazine and a weekend anchor/reporter.