KPLU’S LIAM MORIARTY WINS INTERNATIONAL REPORTING AWARD

KPLU’S LIAM MORIARTY WINS INTERNATIONAL REPORTING AWARD

KPLU environment reporter Liam Moriarty has taken second place in the prestigious RIAS Berlin Commission’s "Excellence in Journalism" competition. Moriarty is being honored for an October 2009 story examining whether Germany’s successful transition to solar power could be duplicated in the Pacific Northwest. (The first place award went to a reporter from Bavarian Radio.) Moriarty will receive his award and a cash prize at a dinner hosted by the RIAS Commission in Berlin in May.

The competition is designed to encourage the reporting of stories which improve understanding between Germany and the United States. Moriarty has been KPLU’s environment reporter since 2006, and has worked as a journalist for nearly 20 years.

Founded by the United States following the end of World War II, RIAS Berlin has remained committed to the principle of independent, rational and critical journalism in the public interest. The Commission was established in 1992 to promote the exchange of persons and information in the field of broadcast journalism between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America, and to support radio and television productions which contribute to mutual understanding between citizens of the two nations.

In 2009, Moriarty received the EU Northwest Journalist Fellowship, awarded by the European Union Center at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Affairs at the University of Washington. He was the very first recipient of the week-long fellowship last July which took him to France, Belgium and Germany to gather material for a five-part series comparing and contrasting environmental issues between Europe and the Pacific Northwest. The series, "Europe and Us: Growing a Green Future," aired in the fall of 2009. Moriarty’s approach was similar to his 2006 award-winning three-part series, "The French Connection," in which he compared how Washington State and France approach educational issues.

"This award speaks to how we approach news at KPLU," said KPLU News Director Erin Hennessey. "Namely, that perspective is everything. By comparing environmental policies and practices in the Pacific Northwest with Germany and Europe, Liam's story gives us a deeper understanding of how we're doing things here and whether there's potential for doing even more."