MADD Announces Winners of 4th Annual National MADD Media Awards

MADD Announces Winners of 4th Annual National MADD Media Awards

Nineteen Awards for Outstanding Coverage of Drunk Driving and Underage Drinking Issues: The Patriot Ledger and Dateline NBC Earn MADD's Highest Honors

DALLAS, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) announced today the 19 winners of its 4th annual national MADD Media Awards program. The 2006 MADD Media Awards, sponsored by Nationwide Insurance, are in recognition of outstanding media coverage advancing MADD's mission to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking.

"The media has played a pivotal role throughout MADD's history in helping raise awareness about the dangers of drunk driving and underage drinking," says Glynn Birch, MADD national president. "This awards program is unique in that it honors those who choose to help put a face on the issue and educate the public. We want to thank the news and entertainment industries for supporting our life-saving mission."

MADD's top honor -- the Award of Excellence -- goes to Dateline for broadcast media and to The Patriot Ledger in Boston, Mass., for print media. Dateline chronicled the story of a 16-year-old who drank beer at an adult- supervised party, drove away and crashed his car killing two girls. Dateline then followed the case against the parents who hosted the party by the victim's parents who alleged not enough was done to stop underage drinking and the resulting deaths. In a series of stories, The Patriot Ledger aggressively covered legislation introduced to toughen the state's weak drunk driving laws after 13-year-old Melanie Powell was killed by a repeat drunk driver. The bill later became a law known as Melanie's Law.

The 2006 MADD Media Awards winners are:

* Award of Excellence -- Broadcast -- Dateline, NBC Network
* Award of Excellence -- Print -- The Patriot Ledger, Boston, Mass.
* National Television: Drunk Driving Issues -- Dateline, NBC Network
* National Television: Underage Drinking Issues -- 20/20, ABC Network
* Local Television: Drunk Driving Issues -- WHBQ-TV, Cordova, Tenn.
* Local Television: Drunk Driving Issues-Series -- WHO-TV, Des Moines,
Iowa
* Local Television: Underage Drinking Issues -- WSLA-TV, Arlington, Va.
* Radio: Drunk Driving Issues -- KFYI-AM, Phoenix, Ariz.
* Radio: Underage Drinking Issues -- Mediatracks Communications, De
Plaines, Ill.
* Newspaper: Drunk Driving Issues -- Gratiot County Herald, Ithaca, Mich.
* Newspaper: Underage Drinking Issues -- Park Cities People, Dallas,
Texas
* Magazine: Drunk Driving Issues -- Rhode Island Monthly
* Magazine: Underage Drinking Issues-National -- Ladies' Home Journal
* Magazine: Underage Drinking Issues-Local -- Wilma! Wilmington's
Magazine for Women, Wilmington, N.C.
* Magazine: Trade -- Law Enforcement Technology
* Spanish-Language Media: Broadcast -- KFTV, Fresno, Calif.
* Spanish-Language Media: Print -- La Noticia, Charlotte, N.C.
* Community Awareness: National -- Chesapeake Productions, Bowie, Md.
* Community Awareness: Local -- Lakeville Government Access Channel,
Lakeville, Minn.

The 2006 award winners will be honored at a luncheon as part of MADD's National Conference on September 8 in Anaheim, Calif. The MADD Media Awards have been sponsored by Nationwide Insurance for four years.

"We are proud to partner with MADD to help reduce the number of lives killed and injured due to alcohol-related crashes," adds Bob Windsor, associate vice president of safety for Nationwide Insurance. "It is important to recognize the commitment of the media professionals being honored through this award."

Each year, nearly 17,000 people are killed and half a million others are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. MADD works daily to help pass proven-effective laws, support law enforcement and implement science-based alcohol use prevention programs for youth. In 2005, MADD served more than 36,000 victims/survivors of drunk driving.

The call for entries for the 2007 MADD Media Awards will be announced this fall. Stories broadcasted or published between April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2007 are eligible to enter the program. For more information, visit http://www.madd.org/media-awards .

MADD's mission is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. MADD is a 501 (c) (3) charity with approximately 600 offices and 2 million members and supporters nationwide. Founded in 1980, MADD has helped save more than 300,000 lives. For more information, visit http://www.madd.org/ .

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030421/MADDLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Mothers Against Drunk Driving

CONTACT: Amy George of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, +1-469-420-4493

Web site: http://www.madd.org/
http://www.madd.org/media-awards

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