SEATTLE, Wash. – On the heels of winning the 2005 National Headliner Award for best newscast, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News is honored to receive four Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA).

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News won first place in the category of Best Spot News with its coverage of the "Seattle Monorail Fire." On Memorial Day 2004, KIRO 7 reporters and photographers captured images of the fire as well as the evacuation of passengers trapped on the burning train.

KIRO's Team 7 investigators won two first place awards for their reporting. Investigative reporter Chris Halsne, producer Bill Benson, and photographer David Weed won Best Investigation for "Close Proximity," an expose of how Washington State frequently violates the law when assigning housing to convicted sex offenders. The investigative team also won a first place award in the Best Continuing Coverage category for "A Family Reunited - At All Costs." This Team 7 investigation showed how the state’s child protection agency tried to force a family to accept their son back, even though he had previously assaulted their young daughter.

In the category of Best Videography, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News photographer Eric Alexander won first place for "Lightning Storm," a remarkable photographic journey into a Puget Sound lightning storm last spring.

A panel of judges comprised of radio and television news managers from various sized markets across the country voted from entries nationwide. KIRO 7 Eyewitness News won for the Northwest region of the United States. Regional winners automatically become eligible for the national RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards competition in September.

RTNDA has been honoring outstanding achievement in electronic journalism with the Murrow Awards since 1971. Edward R. Murrow Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence in the electronic news profession.

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