Three Belo Stations Win 2008 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards

DALLAS, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Belo Corp. announced today that three of its television stations were honored with the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton Award for excellence in broadcast journalism at a ceremony held last evening at Columbia University. WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth, KHOU-TV in Houston and KMOV-TV in St. Louis were three of only 13 winners chosen from a pool of 510 radio and television news entries. The three Belo stations are among only five United States local television stations honored this year. Since 2000, Belo television stations have received nine duPont-Columbia Awards, more than any other station group.

WFAA's winning piece is titled Television Justice, a series of three reports on how the local police in Murphy, Texas collaborated in the sting operations of NBC's Dateline: To Catch A Predator program. These reports explore the intersection of media and justice and reveal problems of law enforcement commingling with television production for reality television. WFAA recipients of the 2008 duPont-Columbia Award are senior reporter Byron Harris, investigative producer Mark Smith, senior photographer and editor Kraig Kirchem, and executive news director Michael Valentine.

KHOU recipients are investigative reporter Jeremy Rogalski, investigative producer Chris Henao, photographer and editor Keith Tomshe, executive producer for investigative reporting David Raziq, and executive news director Keith Connors. KHOU's award-winning entry is titled Rules of the Game, an investigative report on an unusual aspect of Texas law that allows prosecutors to withhold evidence from the defense before trial.

Recipients of KMOV's 2008 Silver Baton Award are reporter Craig Cheatham, photographer and editor Gary Womack, and acting news director Genie Garner for the piece Left Behind: The Failure of East St. Louis Schools, a series of reports examining the chronic failure of schools in East St. Louis, Illinois to educate special needs children.

"WFAA, KHOU and KMOV represent the commitment that all Belo television stations have to journalistic excellence," said Dunia Shive, president/Chief Operating Officer. "We are extremely proud that three Belo television stations were recognized with such a prominent award."

The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards honor overall excellence in broadcast journalism and have been administered by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University since 1968. Established by Jessie Ball duPont in 1942 in memory of her late husband, Alfred I. duPont, the awards are the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes, which are also administered by the Graduate School of Journalism.

About Belo

Belo Corp. is one of the nation's largest media companies with a diversified group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media assets. A Fortune 1000 company with 7,000 employees and approximately $1.6 billion in annual revenues, Belo operates in some of America's most dynamic markets in Texas, the Northwest, the Southwest, the Mid-Atlantic and Rhode Island. Belo owns 20 television stations, six of which are in the 15 largest U.S. broadcast markets. The Company also owns or operates six cable news stations and manages one television station through a local marketing agreement. Belo's daily newspapers are The Dallas Morning News, The Providence Journal, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) and the Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, TX). The Company also publishes specialty publications targeting young adults, and the fast-growing Hispanic market, including Quick and Al Dia in Dallas/Fort Worth, and El D and La Prensa in Riverside. Belo operates more than 30 Web sites associated with its operating companies. Additional information is available at http://www.belo.com/ or by contacting Paul Fry, vice president/Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, at 214-977-6835.