And the 2009 duPont-Columbia University Awards go to…

The 2009 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards were recently announced by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and ABDUCTION: The Megumi Yokota Story, by Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim and aired on last season of Independent Lens on PBS, was among the winners of this prestigious broadcast journalism award.

ABDUCTION is the true story of a 13-year-old Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean spies in 1977, and her parents’ 30-year battle to bring her home. Told through the eyes of Megumi’s parents, ABDUCTION follows their incredible journey full of bizarre twists, and a life they never imagined.

This year’s other winners included:

- Chicago Public Radio, PRI, NPR, Alex Blumberg & Adam Davidson: This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money
- NPR, All Things Considered, Melissa Block & Robert Siegel: Coverage of the Chengdu Earthquake
- NPR and Laura Sullivan: All Things Considered: Sexual Abuse of Native American Women
- Oregon Public Broadcasting: The Silent Invasion
- California Newsreel, San Francisco & Vital Pictures, Boston: Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? on PBS
- Current TV and Christof Putzel: From Russia with Hate
- WFAA-TV, Dallas, Byron Harris & Brett Shipp: Money for Nothing, A Passing Offense, The Buried and the Dead
- CNN and Christiane Amanpour: God’s Warriors
- ABC News, Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger: Nightline, The Other War: Afghanistan
- HBO, Thomas Lennon & Ruby Yang: Cinemax’s Reel Life: The Blood of Yingzhou District
- WJLA-TV, Washington, DC & Roberta Baskin: Drilling for Dollars: Children’s Dentistry Investigation
- WTVT-TV, Tampa, & Doug Smith: Small Town Justice