Business
Sinclair’s “Project Baltimore” Wins Prestigious IRE Award
WBFF/Fox45’s Investigative Unit Exposes Flaws in Baltimore Public School System, Denying Students with Disabilities a Proper Education Fifth Consecutive IRE
About this update from Sinclair, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nWBFF/Fox45’s Investigative Unit Exposes Flaws in Baltimore Public School System, Denying Students with Disabilities a Proper Education\n\n\nFifth Consecutive IRE Awarded to Sinclair, Fourth IRE Award for WBFF\n\n\nWKRC in Cincinnati Named a Finalist\n\n\n BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nSinclair is pleased to announce Project Baltimore, the special investigative reporting unit of WBFF/Fox 45 News, was honored by Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) for its reporting on Baltimore’s public school system, exposing how Baltimore City Schools denied students with disabilities a proper education, and in doing so, violated their federal education rights.\n\n\nThis is the fourth time Project Baltimore has been honored with an IRE Award, and the fifth consecutive year a Sinclair newsroom is being honored.\n\n\nIn addition, WKRC in Cincinnati was an IRE finalist for their investigation into a uranium enrichment plant in Southern Ohio and the radioactive contamination, cancer and deaths in the communities that surround it.\n\n\nEstablished in 1979, the annual IRE Awards recognize outstanding investigative reporting from newsrooms across the globe, with contest entries screened and judged by IRE members who are working journalists.\n\n\nCommenting on the honor, Scott Livingston, Senior Vice President of News said, “Being honored by our peers reinforces Sinclair's commitment to impactful reporting with a local focus and driving positive change within our communities. Asking questions, digging deeper, holding officials accountable and being a voice for the voiceless members of our community is at the core of what we do in our content centers, and we are proud our work continues to be recognized.”\n\n\nIn “Disabled & Denied” Project Baltimore shed light on the failures of the education system, exposing how Baltimore City Schools denied students with disabilities a proper education, and in doing so, violated their federal education rights.\n\n\nA Baltimore City mother, Latasha Phillips, came forward with allegations of school misconduct. Her son, Qwantay Spearman, missed the first 140 days of school at a west Baltimore high school, because the district could not provide him with a nurse. Due to a medical condition, Qwantay is required to have a nurse under his federally mandated Individualized Education Program (IEP). Despite missing 140 d...