Wendy Halloran - Profile and Journalist Details
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Wendy Halloran
Verified
Chief Investigative Reporter, KUTV-TV (Salt Lake City, UT)
Salt Lake City
Beats
Biography
Wendy Halloran was awarded broadcast journalism's most coveted national award, a 2015 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, broadcast's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, for her investigation into the once elite Phoenix Fire Department arson squad, in which some members falsely accused and arrested innocent people for arson fires which were not intentionally set. The duPont Award is the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize which is also decided by a panel of judges at Columbia University in New York. She also won a 2015 National Headliner Award from the Press Club of Atlantic City, one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic merit in the communications industry and a 2015 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting for the same story. 2018 National Headliner Award for "Secrets and Lies" which exposed serious misconduct by the Lab Director/Chief Toxicologist, Autopsy Supervisor and Supervisor of the Death Investigators at the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office. The award-winning entry which called into question their credibility as expert witnesses was in the documentary/series of reports for broadcast or cable television stations. In 2017 she won a National Headliner Award for her investigation: Deadly Grade: The Kendra Parton story in the news series or documentary category. Also in 2017, she earned a fellowship to the Journalist Law School at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She won a 2016 National Headliner Award for her year-long probe into the Paradise Valley School District which triggered a U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights investigation. Halloran exposed how school officials covered up an alleged sexual assault of a special needs student during the homecoming dance. Halloran also exposed how school administrators at that same high school misled students, staff and parents into believing the security cameras were functioning when they were actually fake. She is a 2013 finalist for a national Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award. Among the most prestigious in journalism, for her dogged reporting into the Phoenix Fire Department's arson unit. Powerless people and fearless probes by a powerful institution that allowed its investigators to run amok. 2014 "First Amendment Award" from The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Valley of the Sun for "Phoenix Fire Department arson squad members’ false claims.” She is a 12-time Emmy Award-winning Investigative journalist who is passionate about holding the powerful accountable. Halloran is perhaps best known for exposing a threat to our national security when she uncovered workers in missile defense with top secret security clearance... were holders of counterfeit credentials. She got the attention of Congress. Wendy has been honored with 12 Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She has 44 Emmy nominations to her credit. Halloran is the 2013 inaugural recipient of the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona S.T.A.R. Award (Supporting Transparency and Advocacy Recognition) for her pursuit of public records relating to her investigation called "Watching Tony Die." The STAR Award celebrates and honors those meritorious efforts to keep our government transparent in the tradition of the First Amendment. In 2013 she won the coveted Freedom of Information Award from the Arizona Newspapers Association and the Associated Press Media Editors for her dogged pursuit of public records from the Arizona Department of Corrections, again for her investigation called "Watching Tony Die." The FOI award honors journalists as a means to publicize the often difficult efforts to preserve free speech and transparency in government. In 2012, as a result of Halloran's gumshoe reporting, The Arizona Press Club bestowed the Arpaio First Amendment Disservice Award — known as the "Brick Wall Award" — upon the Arizona Department of Corrections and Director Charles Ryan for the agency's stonewalling of Halloran and KPNX for two years the public release of a horrific video that depicted corrections officers failing to render aid to a suicidal inmate who eventually died from his self-inflicted wounds. After months of fighting for the video as public record, KPNX and Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran went to court to force the Department of Corrections to follow state sunshine law. Arizona Superior Court Judge David M. Talamante ordered the agency to produce the video and the agency later agreed to pay more than $26,000 of the media organization's attorney fees. Halloran has also won several Associated Press Awards for investigative reporting. Her investigations have led to legislation, policy changes, resignations, internal affairs investigations, firings, arrests, grand jury indictments, felony convictions and prison sentences.
Injustice wrongful convictions police misconduct prosecutorial misconduct legal system.
Content
Company Info
KUTV-TV (Salt Lake City, UT)
Salt Lake City, United States