KCET's Signature Nightly News and Public Affairs Program, SoCal Connected, Wins Second Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for Journalism Excellence

Burbank, CA - Dec. 19, 2012 - KCET, the nation's largest independent public

Award for its investigative coverage of the Los Angeles County's Children's Dependency Court. This marks the second duPont-Columbia

Award for the award-winning series in three years.

SoCal Connected received the honor for its segment

titled, "Courting Disaster," an exclusive, in-depth investigation into Los

Angeles County's Children's Dependency Court, the largest in the nation caring

for more than 25,000 children. For the first time, television cameras

were allowed inside the court and captured children awaiting decisions that

would impact their futures while revealing tremendous overcrowding, delays and

backlogs that plagued the system.  The

piece profiled the overwhelming caseloads that judges, attorneys and social

workers carry; how additional budget cuts threaten to bring the justice system

to a near standstill; and how the judicial system often works against families

trying desperately to stay together or reunite.

SoCal Connected's award-winning investigative team was

comprised of Bret Marcus, executive producer; Justine Schmidt, co-executive producer; Jennifer

London, correspondent; Karen Foshay, producer; Dan Caston, Kenny Gioseffi,

Brett Wood, videographers; and Michael Bloecher, editor.

"We are extremely

honored to receive a second duPont-Columbia award," said Bret Marcus,

executive producer for SoCal Connected and KCET's Chief Content

Officer.  "This type of special

long-form reporting is what SoCal Connected is all about, and we're

pleased to be recognized among the nation's best in journalism."

The duPont-Columbia

jury described the piece as "exemplary reporting on the consequences of budget

cuts to Los Angeles' court system and their devastating impact on families.

Well-written and edited... an important story that clearly illustrated the real

impact budget cuts are having on families in California."

SoCal Connected received its first duPont-Columbia

Award in 2011 for the team's exposé of city regulations on the distribution of

marijuana in Southern California ("Up In Smoke" and "Cannabis Cowboys"), worker safety regulations at Cal/OSHA

("Protected or Neglected") and mandatory flood zone designations imposed on

homeowners in certain parts of the city ("Hung Out to Dry").

The

duPont-Columbia Award honors excellence in broadcast journalism and is

considered equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize. The multiple Emmy®-winning series,

which also won the 2010 George Foster Peabody Award, has now been awarded

broadcast journalism's two most prestigious honors.

SoCal Connected is made possible through

the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation, serving the Los Angeles

community since 1952; Jim and Anne Rothenberg; the Maddocks-Brown Foundation;

The John Randolph Haynes & Dora Haynes Foundation; and the California

Endowment.

SoCal Connected, winner of the Peabody and two duPont-Columbia awards, 17 Emmy®

Awards, 19 Golden Mikes, 41 LA Press Club Awards, two Gracie Awards, and three

with an encore at 10 p.m. exclusively on KCET. For more information, to view

episodes online or to leave comments, please visit www.socalconnected.org.

ABOUT KCET

On-air, online and in the

community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment

of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning

local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around

the world. KCET currently produces the Emmy®, duPont-Columbia and Peabody

Award-winning SoCal Connected, a

hard-hitting prime-time nightly television news program that examines the

issues and people of Southern California. Throughout its 48-year history, KCET

has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public

affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its

quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and community

services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution.

For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content,

programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.

ABOUT ALFRED I. DUPONT-COLUMBIA AWARDS

The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards honor excellence

in broadcast and digital journalism and were established in 1942 by Jessie Ball

duPont in memory of her husband, Alfred I. duPont. The awards are generously

supported by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund.

Learn more about the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards

for excellence in broadcast and digital journalism at www.journalism.columbia.edu/dupont.

For a century, the Columbia University Graduate School of

Journalism has been preparing journalists with instruction and training that

stresses academic rigor, ethics, journalistic inquiry, and professional

practice. Founded with a gift from Joseph Pulitzer, the School opened its doors

in 1912 and offers master of science, master of arts, and doctor of philosophy

degrees. Learn more at www.journalism.columbia.edu.

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