Scripps announces Give Light Awards winners

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Feb 07, 2019, 14:30 ET

CINCINNATI, Feb. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) today awarded its Give Light Awards, honoring some of the best work from 2018 across the company.

The awards, named for Scripps' longtime company motto, "Give light and the people will find their own way," included five categories: Creating a Better-Informed World, Doing Well by Doing Good, Creating Value, Leading at all Levels and Upholding the First Amendment.

"The Give Light Awards were created to recognize the powerful journalism of Scripps employees across the country to improve the lives of those we serve as well as the creativity and problem-solving all of our teams bring to their daily work," Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson said. "This company has a 140-year history of best-in-class journalism, industry leadership and community service, and today we celebrate the people behind this mission."

The 2018 Give Lights Awards winners and award categories are:

Creating a Better-Informed World: Charlie Specht, investigative reporter, and Jeff Wick, photographer, from WKBW in Buffalo, New York, for storytelling with the greatest impact. Specht and Wick were recognized for their investigative series "Fall from Grace," which revealed cover-ups of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church in Western New York.
Doing Well by Doing Good: Allison Gargaro, weather anchor at KERO in Bakersfield, California. This award goes to an individual or team who best demonstrated how they meaningfully serve a community on behalf of the company. Gargaro raised more than $15,000 for a local soup kitchen and shelter through sales of her "Recipes to the Rescue" cookbook.

Honorable mention: Cynthia Newsome, anchor at KSHB in Kansas City, Missouri, for the non-profit program she founded, Awesome Ambitions. The program has mentored more than 3,000 young women since she launched it in 1997.
Creating Value: Jackie Alvarado and Patti Jury, account executives at KNXV in Phoenix. This award goes to a team or individual who develops an innovative solution, strategic alliance or partnership to generate new business or deepen business or consumer relationships. Alvarado and Jury created a successful sponsored content campaign that was scaled across markets.

Honorable mention: The Newsy team of Stephen Strong, vice president of strategic partnerships; Freddie Godfrey, senior director of strategic partnerships; Christina Hartman, vice president of news and programming; and Shawn Farrington, director of ad technology for National Media, for creating NewsyBriefs – an audience extension product for over-the-top and cable TV.
Leading at all Levels: Alyssa Salcido, producer at KSHB in Kansas City, in recognition of her leadership in mentoring new employees.

Honorable mention: Colleen Reid, executive assistant at KNXV in Phoenix, for her 15 years of exemplary service to the station.
Upholding the First Amendment: The Newsy investigative team based at the Scripps Washington Bureau for exemplary service in the cause of the First Amendment guarantee of a free press. The team includes Mark Fahey, producer; Mark Greenblatt, senior national investigative correspondent; Kenny Jacoby, Scripps Howard Foundation journalism fellow; and Zach Cusson, videographer. The team's reporting for its joint investigation with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica, "Case Cleared: How rape goes unpunished in America," led the FBI to expedite a process to reform its national system for tracking crimes in order to require the nation's police agencies to report unfounded crimes.

Honorable mention: Heather Catallo, investigative reporter for "7 investigators" at WXYZ in Detroit, for her portfolio of work, including "Fighting for Access," which documented a series of reports on Michigan's probate system that resulted in a major change in state law to protect people whose family property has gone to probate court.

Winners receive a Scripps stock award, a trophy and an all-expenses-paid trip to the 66th Scripps Howard Awards in Cincinnati on Thursday, April 18.

About Scripps
The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) serves audiences and businesses through a growing portfolio of local and national media brands. With 36 television stations, Scripps is one of the nation's largest independent TV station owners. Scripps runs a collection of national journalism and content businesses, including Newsy, the next-generation national news network; podcast industry leader Stitcher; the fast-growing national broadcast networks Bounce, Grit, Escape and Laff; and Triton, the global leader in digital audio technology and measurement services. Scripps produces original programming including "Pickler & Ben," 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."