"War Stories," a collaborative between WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth and The Dallas Morning News, has won a national award for best documentary.
The program, featuring never-before-seen photographs, video and commentary by Belo journalists covering U.S. military units during the Iraq war, provides viewers with a rare glimpse into the world of embedded journalists. Belo Corp. is a $1.4 billion media conglomerate with cable, television and newspaper holdings.
First aired on WFAA in June; the hour-long "War Stories" was honored with a National Headliner Award for best documentary. The documentary team included from The Morning News, photographers David Leeson and Cheryl Diaz Meyer and reporters Tod Robberson, Ed Timms and Jim Landers. Photographer Doug Burgess and reporter Byron Harris represented WFAA. Leeson and Harris were the program's executive producers.
A compelling multimedia presentation, the documentary depicts a side of the Iraq conflict most Americans did not see in mainstream reports from the war. "It's a rare personal perspective of journalists on the front lines and features commentary like nothing I have ever seen before. It's truly riveting," said David Duitch, WFAA vice president/news.
"David Leeson shot both photography and video while on assignment in Iraq, and did a superb job of pulling together the efforts of journalists at The Morning News and WFAA for this documentary," said Bob Mong, president and editor of The Dallas Morning News. "It's a testament to Belo journalists' ability to work together for the benefit of our audiences."
