April 27, 2016

"Hooked" heroin documentary wins prestigious radio award

Student-produced documentary wins professional award whose past winners include NPR and Public Radio International

PHOENIX– Arizona radio listeners have been listening to award-winning journalism. 'Hooked', a student produced documentary on the scourge of heroin in Arizona, has won a top professional honor from one of the nation's oldest journalism organizations.

The radio version of the Cronkite News documentary, the student produced news division of Arizona PBS at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, won the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi award, which dates back to 1932.

The documentary was simulcast in both English and Spanish on 93 Arizona radio stations across the state in January 2015 to shine a light on a growing epidemic that affects every corner of the Grand Canyon State.

"'Hooked' demonstrates the Cronkite School's commitment to excellence and journalism that matters on all media platforms," said Cronkite Professor of Practice Jacquee Petchel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist who was the faculty lead on the project. "We are honored to receive this prestigious award from the SPJ."

The Sigma Delta Chi is only the latest award this documentary has won. The documentary was the first student project to win a rare Alfred I. DuPont Award, and has also won a Rocky Mountain Emmy, among other awards.