KING 5’s investigation into the state ferry system has won an national award from the Columbia School of Journalism.

SEATTLE— KING 5 has won a 2011 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in broadcast journalism.  The station was recognized for the KING 5 Investigator’s “Waste on the Water” series which exposed millions of tax dollars wasted in the Washington State Ferry system.  This at the same time ferry riders faced steep price increases and reductions in service.

The duPont Awards, administered since 1968 by Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, are considered to be the most prestigious broadcast journalism awards and the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes, which are also administered at the school.  

Investigative reporter Susannah Frame, photojournalists Steve Douglas and Doug Burgess and Executive Producer Kellie Cheadle found tens of millions of dollars in systemic wasteful spending and a lack of accountability in the government agency at the same time the state faced a multi-billion dollar shortfall.

Here is the full press release from KING 5.