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| Vol. 24, No. 13 | February 1, 1999 |
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| Vol. 24, No. 13 | February 1, 1999 |
BY KIM BROCKWAY
NOVA, the pioneer science news series on the Public Broadcasting Service, has won the Gold Baton, the highest honor of the annual Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards.
"The gold this year goes to NOVA, the series that brings us elegant photography, thorough research, often suspense, and always good reporting-to teach us about our world," Columbia University President George Rupp said last Wednesday, Jan. 20, in presenting the prize to Executive Producer Paula Apsell.
NOVA, produced at WGBH-TV, Boston, was recognized for five programs and for consistently outstanding science reporting, as exemplified by Coma, which closely followed the treatment of several patients with severe head injuries to demystify the notion of sudden and miraculous recoveries. The other NOVA programs cited were: The Death Zone, The Brain Eater, Supersonic Spies, and China's Mysterious Mummies.
Eleven silver batons were awarded for overall excellence to local stations, network and radio programs aired in 1997-98. Three of those programs' producers are Columbia alumni. Vanessa Roth, whose "Taken In: The Lives of America's Foster Children" took a compassionate look at the troubled system of foster care in New York City, is a 1995 graduate of the School of Social Work. Health reporter Rebecca Perl, a 1987 graduate of the School of Journalism, recorded her treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma in "Scenes from a Transplant" for Public Radio International's This American Life. And Vince Gonzales, also a graduate of the School of Journalism (1993), was part of the team responsible for the CBS Evening News piece "Tomb of the Unknowns," the story of the Vietnam war hero buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Journalism Dean Tom Goldstein, chairman of the awards jury, praised independent producers as "individuals who dream up an idea and through fierce struggles bring it to fruition."
In paying tribute to the late independent producer, Henry Hampton, Goldstein noted that the winners included a steelworker, a teacher and a social worker who were winning for their very first television programs. "A point of view is visible in their work," he said, "but so is credibility, the most desirable of journalistic goals."
Ed Bradley, co-editor and correspondent of CBS News 60 Minutes, hosted the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards in Low Rotunda, in a ceremony that marked the 57th year of the awards. The program will be televised nationwide on PBS by Thirteen/WNET, New York. The Silver Batons were presented by Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent; Elizabeth Vargas, correspondent for ABC News' 20/20; and Scott Simon, host of National Public Radio's Weekend Edition.
Award winners were selected from 634 submissions.
The 11 Silver Baton winners were:
ABC News Nightline and Ted Koppel for "Crime & Punishment"; Laura Angelica Simón, Tracey Trench, and P.O.V. for "Fear and Learning" at Hoover Elementary on PBS; WRAL-TV, Raleigh, and Stuart Watson, for a series of investigative reports on military medicine; WEWS-TV, Cleveland, and Bill Sheil for "Final Mission"; CBS Evening News, Eric Engberg and Vince Gonzales for "Tomb of the Unknowns"; Dan Collison, Rebecca Perl, Tom Jennings and This American Life for "Scenes From a Transplant" on Public Radio International; Raymond Henderson, Tony Buba and the Independent Television Service for "Struggles In Steel: A Story of African-American Steelworkers" on PBS; WBBM-TV, Chicago, and Carol Marin for coverage of Congressman William Lipinski's primary campaign; CBS News 60 Minutes and Mike Wallace for an investigation of the international pharmaceutical industry; WMAQ-TV, Chicago, and Renee Ferguson for "Strip-Searched at O'Hare"; Vanessa Roth and Thirteen/ WNET, New York, for "Taken In: The Lives of America's Foster Children" on PBS.