Aspen Institute's Tom Farrey Wins duPont-Columbia University Award for Broadcast Journalism

Directs Institute's Sports & Society Program

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program Director Tom Farrey was awarded the prestigious 2014 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. The award, considered the Pulitzer Prize for broadcast journalism, was given for a series of stories on topics related to youth football safety, informing and elevating the question of whether kids should play "tackle" at a young age. Farrey wrote and produced two of the three pieces for the ESPN TV program Outside the Lines. He also wrote the three accompanying online stories. 

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The work on the award-winning package led Farrey to host the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Football Safety in November 2012, where he further pushed forward the conversation of youth safety in sports and began helping stakeholders identify solutions. Ultimately, President Obama offered his own opinion on the issue covered by the reports and roundtable. 

"The Sports & Society Program has gathered experts from all facets of the field — famed coaches, Olympic medalists, world-renowned leaders — to study how we can invest in our children through sports so that they mature into the country's next generation of leaders, themselves," said Elliot Gerson, executive vice president of the Aspen Institute. "We are delighted, though not surprised, that Tom's work is being held up as an example of how journalists can educate to affect some of the most important changes in our nation."

"This is a classic example of how I see enterprise journalism and the Aspen Institute working in concert," Farrey said. "The first breaks down the issues, the latter helps identify opportunities for progress and partnerships."

The package nets ESPN its first duPont Award in the network's 34-year history. Farrey and the rest of the Outside the Lines team will receive the honor on January 21 when ESPN and 13 other news organizations will be celebrated for their commitment to excellence in broadcast journalism. 

Farrey will continue the dialogue on youth sports during an event with President Bill Clinton and LA Laker Kobe Bryant, co-sponsored by Project Play, an initiative within the Aspen Institute Sports & Society program, on January 13 in La Quinta, California. A policy roundtable will follow the event on January 15.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colo.; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

SOURCE The Aspen Institute