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Minnesota Public Radio reporters Tom Robertson and Cara Hetland honored with Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award
Radio series on fetal alcohol syndrome among winners of national award for journalistic excellence in covering drug and alcohol problems
November 25, 2008
Minnesota Public Radio reporters Tom Robertson and Cara Hetland recently won a Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: The Invisible Disorder," a comprehensive radio series on the impact of fetal alcohol syndrome on children and adults who struggle with the condition, and on the educational, judicial, foster care, adoption and substance abuse treatment systems.
Robertson, a Bemidji State University graduate, is a reporter/producer at MPR's Bemidji bureau, where he covers news across north central Minnesota. Robertson's other honors include the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism and several Minnesota Page One Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Robertson is a fellow of both the Casey Journalism Center and The Knight Center of the University of Maryland. Cara Hetland is a reporter based out of Sioux Falls.
The Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Awards are the first in the nation to recognize excellence in reporting on substance abuse. The awards are sponsored by Drug Strategies, a national nonprofit research institute. This year's luncheon featured CNN Anchor Campbell Brown.
The award, presented Nov. 18 in New York City, honors Nancy Dickerson Whitehead's efforts to improve media coverage of drug issues. During her long and distinguished career as a broadcast journalist, she reported on many critical social concerns, including the nation's problems with drug and alcohol abuse. Whitehead was a distinguished broadcast journalist and an active member of the board of directors of Drug Strategies.
"These awards honor Nancy's belief that journalists have a special responsibility to inform and educate the public about complex issues, like substance abuse," said Drug Strategies president Mathea Falco. "For a decade, we have been honoring journalists who take the time and make the effort to reflect Nancy's commitment to the highest quality journalism and to finding solutions to the difficult problems of substance abuse and addiction."
The Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Awards Committee includes several prominent journalists and broadcasters, including Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair; Joan Ganz Cooney, Sesame Workshop; Walter Cronkite, CBS; John Dickerson, Slate; Bill Moyers, Public Affairs TV; Diane Sawyer, ABC; Leslie Stahl, 60 Minutes; and Mark Whitaker, Newsweek.
Previous years' winners include HBO, The New York Times, ABC Nightline, Frontline and NPR.
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Minnesota Public Radio® operates a 38-station radio network serving virtually all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states and produces programming for radio, Internet and face-to-face audiences. Programs produced by Minnesota Public Radio's parent company, American Public Media,™ reach 15.9 million listeners nationwide each week. Of those, nearly 800,000 listen regionally, in Minnesota and surrounding states. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be found at www.mpr.org.
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Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc. Arbitron data are estimates only. Fall 2007/Spring 2008 average.
Press Contacts:
Jennifer Haugh
Minnesota Public Radio
651-290-1369
jhaugh@mpr.org
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