WRAL-TV has been honored with a national Society of Professional Journalists award.   The organization awarded WRAL-TV with the Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism for the 2008 Focal Point documentary “Love Child.”

WRAL-TV's Clay Johnson	WRAL-TV's Jay Jennings
WRAL-TV's Laura Riddle	WRAL-TV's Gerald Owens

Focal Point: “Love Child,” is a powerful and emotionally moving documentary, focusing in-depth on the disproportionate number of teen births in the black community with candid interviews and revealing insight from teen mothers and young men.

“Love Child,” was written and produced by Clay Johnson, Jay Jennings, researcher Laura Riddle and WRAL-TV anchor Gerald Owens.

"The high rate of pregnancy among African-American teenagers is an important and controversial issue,” says Focal Point producer Clay Johnson. “I'm proud to work for an organization with the courage to tackle it and present it in an honest and fair way."  

The entire documentary and additional web only elements can be viewed at: http://www.wral.com/news/local/documentaries/story/3051860/

Judges chose the winners from over 900 entries in 53 categories including print, radio, television and online. The awards recognize outstanding work published or broadcasted in 2008.

Focal Point: “Love Child” was also awarded the coveted Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. WRAL-TV won three additional regional Murrow awards for videography, news writing and outstanding website.

The Murrow winners are photojournalist Geof Levine, reporter and Tar Heel Traveler Scott Mason and the station’s website www.wral.com. Read the capcom story here.

WRAL-TV Vice President and General Manager Steven D. Hammel says, “Our staff works round the clock to provide in-depth, uplifting coverage on the air and online. We are delighted to be honored by two prestigious organizations for our work in both areas.”

Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Debbie Strange for this capcom story.

• Find a complete list of winners of the Society of Professional Journalists winners here.