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Apr. 02, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

KLAS-TV gets Peabody Award

'Crossfire' special on water cited

By STEVE BORNFELD
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Photojournalist Matt Adams, left, and investigative reporter George Knapp and their I-Team brought home the George Foster Peabody Award to KLAS-TV, Channel 8.
Photo by Duane Prokop.

Quite a feather in their Knapp sack.

Investigative reporter George Knapp and photojournalist Matt Adams have brought home the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for KLAS-TV, Channel 8 for their I-Team special, "Crossfire: Water, Power and Politics," an examination of how Las Vegas growth would impact large portions of the Southwest.

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    • "We're thrilled with it," Knapp said Wednesday. "There is nothing higher than this in broadcast journalism; and we're in pretty elite company, along with '60 Minutes,' HBO's documentary unit, even 'Saturday Night Live' for their political commentary. I really appreciate the support the station has given me."

    Among other winners announced Wednesday of the 68th annual Peabody Awards, an international award for excellence in television and radio, were ABC's "Lost," HBO's documentary "The Gates" and miniseries "John Adams," NBC's coverage of the Beijing Olympics, PBS' "Washington Week with Gwen Ifill" and CNN's coverage of the presidential primaries.

    "There are not many local TV stations that win these, and it validates what we're trying to do with the I-Team," said Channel 8 news director Ron Comings.

    "Not many stations maintain an investigative unit and not the size of ours. I've been urging George to enter his work in these national awards, and he finally said he would. The quality of his investigative work is so good that I said, 'You have to go after it.' "

    Peabody judges called the "Crossfire" special "network quality" and added that it was "a brave, meticulous examination of a plan to pump massive amounts of water from rural Nevada to booming Sin City and the potential consequences for ranchers, farmers, Native Americans and the environment."

    Channel 8 photojournalist Alex Brauer and producer Ian Russell also contributed to the piece, which aired March 22 and April 20 of last year.

    The special had been in the works for three years.

    "We started working on water issues in the mid-Nineties, during a period of relentless, unprecedented growth. It was go, go, go for 20 years; but when the drought came in, we stayed with it, collecting information," said Knapp, also a columnist for Las Vegas CityLife, a sister publication to the Review-Journal. "There is so much at stake, but no one paid attention because it's so complicated. But it involves primal forces of nature -- growth, quality of life -- not only for people in the valley, but the ranchers and the people who have chosen a different kind of life. Those people don't have a voice in it."

    Knapp and Adams will join other Peabody winners at the May 18 awards ceremony, hosted by NBC's Brian Williams in New York City.

    Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.

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    Oscar wrote on April 07, 2009 09:18 PM: KLAS SHOULD get an award. They report more news that is pertinent to Las Vegas Residents, while the RJ sucks up to the Casino's, and big Local corporations.

    Just the story today about the robbery creeps that got caught at Rancho and Vegas Drive. Four creeps on a robbery spree, robbed the 7-11 at the same intersection, and got caught. I saw all the cop cars on my way to work at 5:30 am (too damn many cop cars if you ask me, almost 10, and the creeps had already been caught. Talk about posing for the News Cameras.) But this Important story never made it in the RJ. As is the case with many of the Local Crime Stories. We have to watch KLAS, or read their web site, to get the REAL news. Not some lame suck-up crap. Right on KLAS. That's why they are Number 1 with NEWS.


    Kathy wrote on April 03, 2009 12:50 PM: Awesome! Congratulations to both of you. George Knapp is informative and great to listen to. I've been a fan of his on coast to coast am radio talk show for a while now. I am not surprised at all that he won the Peabody.


    ava wrote on April 03, 2009 12:44 PM: im real happy for George he realy deserves this. You should also check him out on sunday nights on the radio show Coasttocoastam,


    Mary Williams wrote on April 03, 2009 12:41 PM: Congratulations to George Knapp on the merit of this prestigious award. I hope that this story will continue to break into all national news media so George' audience can send their blessings into a Nevada Water Sharing Accord between rural and urban residents.


    Michele Gilliland wrote on April 03, 2009 08:55 AM: Congratulations to George and his friend for winning this wonderful award.


    Albert from Toronto, Canada wrote on April 03, 2009 08:25 AM: Congratulations to you both. I have been a fan of George Knapp's C2C hosting, and he exemplifies integrity, professionalism, and a sense of being in touch with everyday people. Those seem to be great attributes for any one person and I'm glad they're part of who he is.

    Congratulations George, and congratulations Matt.


    Deborah wrote on April 03, 2009 07:40 AM: I knew why I liked George. He brings a professionalism to interviewing in Coast To Coast AM that is often sacrificed to "entertainment". Congratulations!


    JLS wrote on April 02, 2009 10:05 PM: Congrats George!

    True story - I e-mailed George last week for the heck of it on some unrelated topics- never really expecting a reply - but he was nice enough to respond personally to me the very next day!

    George Knapp is one class act.


    Omnicron Solaris wrote on April 02, 2009 09:58 PM: Congratulations George and the other recipient of the Peabody award!
    I believe that you are a top-notch reporter not afraid to get his hands dirty and roll up his sleeves.
    Out of all of the posts on coast-to-coast a.m. I believe that you are my most favorite.. in some ways reminiscent of Art Bell himself.
    Keep up the good work!


    Out Of Towner wrote on April 02, 2009 09:15 PM: Go get 'em, George! I always like listening to you; your subjects are always too fascinating and important for most journalists to even imagine, much less dare to cover.


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