KARE-TV wins two of broadcasting's biggest national awards

KARE-TV is going to broadcast news' version of the Pulitzers.

The local NBC affiliate has won two duPont Awards, handed out annually by Columbia University, for a piece on how veterans have been shorted by the government and another that examines race and poverty through a portrait of Lucy Laney Elementary School.

What makes KARE's feat even more impressive is that the judges only granted 16 total honors.

Eight of them are going to public-media outlets, including St Paul-based American Public Media, which is being recognized for "In the Dark, Season Two: Supreme Court Coverage." That podcast tracked how the highest court in the land overturned the conviction of death row inmate Curtis Flowers.

Other winning media companies include CNN, "60 Minutes" and MSNBC.

The awards, which are called Silver Batons, will be handed out Jan. 21 in New York during ceremonies hosted by Christiane Amanpour and Michael Barbaro.