WRAL-TV5 Wins Three National Awards

WRAL-TV5 has won three Gabriel Awards for its news coverage, local programming, and community service work. The Gabriel Award is a national honor, recognizing the best in artistic, creative and inspirational programming. The Gabriel Awards are presented by the National Catholic Association for Communicators and encourage broadcasters to produce programming that serves, enriches and challenges audiences.

The four programs were “centralXpress.com: True Colors” and:

Crossing the Tracks: A 5News Documentary, hosted by 5News anchors Pam Saulsby and David Crabtree, painted a complex picture of how custom and tradition are giving way to enlightenment and acceptance--and how economics is playing as big a part in cultural disharmony as skin color.

30 Minutes: On Race Relations, hosted by 5News anchor David Crabtree. WRAL’s weekly public service program examined race relations with community leaders.

The Talk: Women’s Views on Race and Class, hosted by 5News reporter Tracy Wilson. This daytime special focused on North Carolina women who continue to live through racial stereotyping, yet offer hope for families who want to overcome prejudicial attitudes.

Public service announcements: Does the difference in our colors really make a difference? This series of public service announcements challenged societal stereotypes and encouraged racial understanding and conversations.

Honored for best News Story was “Former Death Row Inmate Given Second Life by Court,” featuring a man who was sentenced to die for his role in the murder of a grocery store clerk. After a decision by the Supreme Court allowed his release from prison, he became a minister who practices what he preaches while helping to keep the young men in his community out of trouble. The story can be found online at: http://www.wral-tv.com/news/wral/5investigates/1998/1105-life-after-death/.

“CentralXpress.com” is WRAL’s original, dramatic series targeted to teens and their families. The program was honored with a Gabriel Award in two categories. The episode, “True Colors,” won the Children’s Programming category. The program chronicled a social experiment: having a black middle school student and her white classmate switch places for a weekend, each living in the other’s home. Both girls confront their fear and ignorance of unfamiliar cultures and develop new awareness that binds them together. The “True Colors” episode has also won the prestigious Iris Award for Best Children’s Program and Individual Achievement for Writing and Producing.

“True Colors” was also part of WRAL’s unique, multi-faceted “Facing Race” public service project, which was honored as the best Community Awareness Campaign. “Facing Race” included four locally-produced programs and a public service campaign which revealed deep racial stereotypes that are still alive today and encouraged viewers to first talk about, and then appreciate, racial differences.

For more information, call WRAL-TV5 Station Manager Jim Griffin at (919) 821-8648.

Congratulations for a job well done.