CINCINNATI – KNXV, the Phoenix-based television station owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), has won a National Headliner Award for its 2020 investigative series, “Full Disclosure.”
The investigation – a series of two dozen reports and a pair of documentary specials – exposed widespread and systemic problems with Arizona’s so-called “Brady” lists, which are supposed to track police officers with documented histories of dishonesty, false arrests, crimes and integrity concerns.
As part of the series, the reporting team created the first-ever statewide public database of every officer on the “Brady” list. The investigation prompted officials to launch multiple investigations, ended the careers of dishonest officers, forced county attorneys to increase transparency and pushed union leaders to acknowledge the need for a misconduct database.
“Not only did the station document cases of policy dishonesty, it established a searchable database of officers who have officially been cited for transgressions, one that serves the entire community of law enforcement (and criminal attorneys) in a way state oversight officials never did,” said the National Headliner Award judges. “The system was broken, but ABC 15 took a giant step toward fixing it.”
“Scripps’ local television stations serve a crucial role as watchdogs of the powerful, and KNXV’s investigation into Arizona’s ‘Brady’ lists underscores the important role journalists play in our society,” said Brian Lawlor, Scripps’ president of Local Media. “We’re proud of the team’s persistence and determination to shed light on these issues for viewers and for their commitment to impacting change.”
KNXV also took home second place in the broadcast or cable television stations pandemic coverage/project category for “Arizona’s deadly COVID numbers game.”
“Full Disclosure” was recently honored with an IRE Award and is a finalist in the prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards.
The National Headliner Awards recognize journalistic merit in the communications industry. Since the first National Headliner Awards were presented in 1935, more than 2,650 Headliner medallions have been presented to outstanding writers, photographers, daily newspapers, magazines, graphic artists, radio and television stations and networks and news syndicates.
View the full list of 2021 National Headliner Award winners at headlinerawards.org.
About Scripps
The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is a diversified media company focused on creating a better-informed world. As the nation’s fourth-largest local TV broadcaster, Scripps serves communities with quality, objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of 61 stations in 41 markets. The Scripps Networks reach nearly every American through the national news outlets Court TV and Newsy and popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Grit, Laff and Court TV Mystery. Scripps is the nation’s largest holder of broadcast spectrum. Scripps runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, “Give light and the people will find their own way.”
Media contact:
Kari Wethington, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3763, [email protected]