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Scripps station KNXV wins national duPont award for investigation of false ADA lawsuits

Dec. 7, 2017 By Rebecca McCarter

CINCINNATI – KNXV – ABC15 in Phoenix is one of only 16 news organizations to win a 2018 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, among the most prestigious honors in journalism.

Judges honored KNXV’s “Cash for Compliance” series, deeming it “a relentless investigative series that exposed an audacious group of litigators who exploited the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for profit.”

KNXV’s ongoing investigation, which began in 2016, has had widespread impact in Arizona and beyond, including a recent intervention by the state Attorney General’s office in order to stop the litigators.

“‘Cash for Compliance’ helped our viewers understand how an organization thinly veiled itself as a charity to sue local businesses for ADA non-compliance issues, costing these businesses millions of dollars,” said Anita Helt, vice president and general manager of KNXV. “The series is a powerful example of journalism’s role as a watchdog in our communities, bringing important issues to light.”

The team behind the series include ABC15 journalists Dave Biscobing, investigative reporter; Shawn Martin, investigative producer; and Gerard Watson, investigative photojournalist.

“Cash for Compliance” also has won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and a Rocky Mountain Emmy Investigative Report Award and was a finalist for the 2016 Scripps Howard Awards. View all stories in the series on KNXV’s website.

The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards honor excellence in broadcast, online and documentary journalism. For more information, visit www.dupont.org.

KNXV is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP).


About Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) serves audiences and businesses through a growing portfolio of television, radio and digital media brands. With 33 television stations, Scripps is one of the nation’s largest independent TV station owners. Scripps runs an expanding collection of local and national digital journalism and content businesses, including Newsy, the next-generation national news network; podcast industry leader Midroll Media; and fast-growing national broadcast networks Bounce, Grit, Escape and Laff. Scripps produces original programming including “Pickler & Ben,” runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, “Give light and the people will find their own way.”

Media contact:
Kari Wethington, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3763, [email protected]