AUSTIN, Texas – April 25, 2016 – “Texas Standard” reporter Joy Diaz has received two first-place First Amendment awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Fort Worth Professional Chapter.
The annual awards recognize exceptional journalism in Texas and Oklahoma that furthers the public’s right to know how governments and businesses affect their lives, and champions the powerless and disadvantaged.
Diaz’s story “These Indigenous Mexican Textiles Face a Copyright Controversy,” which aired Nov. 24, 2015, won in the business news category. The story explains how a small town in Oaxaca, Mexico – known for its centuries-old embroidery designs – has been mired in a copyright lawsuit involving French designer Isabel Marant.
“How Can We Get More Parents to Buckle Up Their Kids?” won first place in the general news category. The story, which aired Sept. 24, 2015, features a grieving family whose six-year-old granddaughter died in a car accident because she wasn’t restrained in her seat belt.
Both stories won in the broadcast, medium market competition.
The First Amendment Awards, the signature competition of the Society of Professional Journalists, Fort Worth Professional Chapter, honor exceptional journalism in Texas and Oklahoma — SPJ Region 8.
Twenty-four First Amendment awards were presented at the 13th annual First Amendment Awards and Scholarship Dinner, April 22, in Arlington, Texas. The chapter also gave $36,500 to 13 students who are either from Texas or attending school in Texas. Providing scholarships dates to the chapter’s early days in the 1940s. Since 2000 alone, $291,500 has been awarded.
About “Texas Standard”
“Texas Standard” sets the bar for broadcast news coverage, offering crisp, expansive coverage of politics, lifestyle and culture, the environment, technology and innovation, and business and the economy — from a distinctly Texas perspective. Hosted by award-winning journalist David Brown, the hour-long daily news magazine is grounded in the best traditions of American journalism: fact-based, independent and politically neutral reporting.
“Texas Standard,” which airs on 24 public radio stations across Texas, is a project of KUT Austin, KERA North Texas, Houston Public Media, and San Antonio’s Texas Public Radio, as well as news organizations across Texas.
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Media contact: Erin Geisler, KUT Public Radio, (512) 475-8071
