KUED's "SHADOW OF HOPE" WINS BEST NATIONAL NEWS DOCUMENTARY

The KUED TV documentary "SHADOW OF HOPE" was selected as the nation's best locally producer television news documentary of 2004 by the National Society of Professional Journalists. Formal announcement was made today by the national organization.   The award -- KUED's second such honor, joining 2001's "SKULL VALLEY" -- will be presented at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on July 8.

"It's rare for a station to win two such prestigious honors," says KUED General Manager Larry Smith.   "We're very proud of Ken Verdoia and his team, whose work is of consistently outstanding quality."

The KUED production team for SHADOW OF HOPE, led by Ken Verdoia, Nancy Green, Erik Nielsen and Gary Turnier, followed undocumented workers from their home villages in Mexico, through the dangers of clandestine border crossings, to the classrooms, hospitals and workplaces of Utah, where their numbers rival some of the state's largest cities.

The major documentary explored the challenges, opportunities and practical reality of the role of immigration in our society, raising the hard questions that Utahns - and Americans - must face.

In accepting the award, Verdoia was quick to credit "working with such outstanding colleagues in a setting that not only accommodates, but encourages such work."