WTVF Nashville’s investigation into Tennessee’s mayoral candidate receives the prestigious Peabody Award

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ – WTVF, a Nashville-based local television station owned by The EW Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), has won a Peabody Award for its work Investigation 2023 that exposes Franklin, TennMayoral candidate Gabrielle Hansons Ties to white supremacists and other questions about her background during last fall’s election.

In a series of over 20 reports, WTVF Chief Investigative Reporter Phil Williams and the NewsChannel 5 Investigates team investigated Hanson’s ties to white supremacists, her arrest history for promoting prostitution and her social media photo of a group of women who she claimed were her supporters, but later did so rejected this claim and she denouncedamong other inconsistencies and unusual revelations.

“In Franklin, Tenna wealthy suburb of Nashvillemediagenic city councilor Gabrielle Hanson “I ran in the 2023 mayoral race against a popular Republican incumbent who ran on a far-right platform of Christian nationalism and opposition to LGBTQ rights,” the Peabody judges wrote. “But as an investigative reporter Phil Williams of WTVF-NewsChannel 5 began tracking Hanson’s campaign, he uncovered a trail of hypocrisy and deception replete with doctored social media posts, a job running a prostitution service under a different name, lies to police and pirated content.

The Peabody Awards are presented unanimously each year by a diverse jury in the categories of entertainment, documentary, news, podcast/radio, arts, children’s and youth programming and public broadcasting. The annual Peabody Winners are a collection of stories that “powerfully reflect the pressing societal issues and the vibrant emerging voices of our time.”

This is Williams’ fourth Peabody Award and the third for WTVF.

“The NewsChannel 5 Investigates team, led by those of determination Phil Williams“perfectly demonstrates what journalism can do for a local community,” said Lyn Plantinga, vice president and regional general manager of Scripps. “Our team asked tough questions of officials on behalf of local voters and gave them important information that likely would have gone undetected.”

“The Nashville “The team’s persistent local reporting is an example of true watchdog journalism, and Scripps is proud of its commitment to uncovering the truth,” said Scripps President of News Kate O’Brian said.

Williams, who spent more than 25 years at WTVF, was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Radio and Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for his continued work to expose corruption in the world Tennessee Government and politics. Williams is also the 2023 recipient of the prestigious award John Chancellor Award for excellence in journalism and is the only television journalist to ever receive the coveted Toner Prize for political reporting.

This year’s Peabody winners will be celebrated at a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles At Sunday June 9th.

Media contact: Becca McCarterThe E. W. Scripps Company, (513) 410-2425, (email protected)

About Scripps
The E. W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is a diversified media company focused on creating a more informed world. As one of the largest local television stations in the country, Scripps serves communities with high-quality, objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of more than 60 stations in more than 40 markets. Scripps reaches households across the U.S. with national news outlets Scripps News and Court TV, as well as popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Defy TV, Grit, ION Mystery and Laff. Scripps is the nation’s largest holder of broadcast spectrum. Scripps is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Scripps was founded in 1878 and its longstanding motto is: “Give light and people will find their own way.”

SOURCE The EW Scripps Company