In summary
New honors for CalMatters highlight efforts to serve the millions of people who rely on television for their news coverage.
An innovative CalMatters-CBS partnership to bring important California issues to light on television is being recognized by two prestigious journalism awards.
In one TV segment, CalMatters and CBS station KOVR in Sacramento partnered to cover wage theft, a topic explored in depth by the CalMatters’ California Divide team. “Wage Theft: When Bosses Don’t Pay” was reported by CalMatters’ reporters Jeanne Kuang, Alejandro Lazo and Lil Kalish with project editor Denise Amos in partnership with reporter Julie Watts of CBS Sacramento.
The segment won first place for TV business and consumer reporting in the national Headliner Awards. CalMatters has previously won in this awards contest for online beat coverage of the Capitol, for reporting on mental health and for the 2018 Voter Guide. The segment has also been nominated for a Northern California Emmy award.
Judges wrote of the wage theft segment: “Low-wage and minority workers are most likely to be underpaid for their time on the clock, but the CBS Sacramento – CalMatters team uncovers more ways in which California businesses may be shortchanging workers’ paychecks, especially if those workers are unaware of labor laws and employee rights. Even when challenging employers for their due amount, various state systems hinder the process and businesses don’t end up paying out, but the reporting uncovers solutions being piloted with success that could be adopted state-wide, and beyond.”
A second CalMatters-CBS collaboration, “Trial by Fire,” has also been nominated for an Emmy. It arose out of CalMatters reporter Julie Cart’s coverage of the devastating effects of endless wildfires on the mental health of California’s firefighters. The coverage, edited by Marla Cone, became the basis for the TV segment created by CBS Sacramento’s Julie Watts in collaboration with Julie Cart.
The Emmy winners will be announced June 3 in San Francisco.
