KMOV in St. Louis and WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth have won 2012 Investigative Reporters & Editors Awards.

KMOV’s Craig Cheatham and Jim Thomas won the IRE Award in the small Broadcast/Video category for “War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City,” an hourlong documentary about political corruption in East St. Louis, Ill. Cheatham’s “dogged reporting and hard-hitting questions appear to get inside the minds of hardened politicos who admit to him their wrongdoing,” the judges wrote. The CBS affiliate’s report resulted in the resignation of a police chief and pending criminal charges and investigations.

WFAA’s Brett Shipp, Billy Bryant and Jason Trahan won in the medium Broadcast/Video category for “Unfair Game,” an examination of Texas high school coaches and administrators helping students illegally transfer school districts to put together top athletic teams. Shipp “used an inventive combination of social media and dogged reporting to show how high school athletics had been transformed into a business in which the best players were lured away from their neighborhood schools and sometimes across state lines,” the judges wrote. One coach was fired as result of the ABC affiliate’s report.

KTUL in Tulsa, KSL in Salt Lake City and WFTS in Tampa are the winners of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation’s annual Service to America Awards.

KTUL is the winner of the Service to America Television Award for setting “an example of service at the heart of a community,” according to the NABEF. The ABC affiliate produced nearly 50 community outreach projects in 2012.

KSL wins this year’s Service to Children Award for making “great strides in ensuring elementary students read at grade level.” The NBC affiliate created a grassroots movement, “Read Today,” that has tutored more than 2,600 students in Salt Lake City.

For a six-week campaign aimed at creating awareness and taking action against domestic violence, WFTS wins the Service to Community Award. The ABC affiliate has “created a lifeline for many suffering in the shadow of domestic abuse.” Read more

Four local stations –Phoenix ABC affiliate KNXV, Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR, Denver ABC affiliate KMGH and Hartford NBC O&O WVIT –  have won George Foster Peabody Awards for excellence in electronic media in 2012.

KNXV’s award-winning report, “Ford Escape: Exposing a Deadly Defect,” was a five-month investigation that revealed an acceleration problem with the vehicle, sparking a federal inquiry and the recall of 700,000 SUVs.

WTHR won a Peabody Award for “Investigating the IRS,” a “stunning investigation” that exposed how illegal immigrants were defrauding the IRS of billions of dollars in tax refunds.

“Investigating the Fire,” KMGH’s award-winning report, examined the mistakes and miscommunication that led to a deadly fire caused by the Colorado State Forest Service’s controlled burn. The report resulted in legislative changes in Colorado.

• Related, TVNewser: CBS, ABC, PBS Lead List of Peabody Award Winners

WVIT won for “Breaking News: Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.” The station was the first television news outlet to report on the Sandy Hook shooting, providing “comprehensive coverage that informed not only its own audience, but viewers around the country.”

The Ohio Army National Guard presented WKBN, the CBS affiliate in Youngstown, Ohio, with an award of appreciation on Tuesday.

WKBN and its sister stations, Fox affiliate WYFX and ABC affiliate WYTV, have aired public service announcements for the Ohio Army National Guard for free during the past six years. Sergeant Ted Kester, who presented the award to WKBN general manager Dave Coy and news director Gary Coursen, said the announcements have helped attract “hundreds of soliders” to the National Guard, according to WKBN.

“This is just a nice way to say thank you very much,” Kester said. ” We appreciate it, of course. Public service announcements, nobody says they have to air them, they choose to, and we just really appreciate being one of the ones they choose to air.”

The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism has announced the 2013 winners of the Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism.

KARE, Gannett’s NBC affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul, won for local broadcast station. The judges cited its coverage of the marriage equality debate, calling KARE’s reporting “fair, balanced and deeply personal.” WBNS in Columbus received a special commendation for citizen engagement. Denver’s KUSA was the winner of the Cronkite/Jackson Prize for Fact Checking Political Messages, a category that was just introduced to the awards this year.

• Related, TVNewser: ABC News, CNN Win Cronkite Awards

Two reporters were honored for individual achievement at a local broadcast station. Marshall Zelinger, a content producer and presenter at KMGH in Denver, won for his “clarity of presentation” and “modern production techniques.” Tom McKee, a reporter at WCPO in Cincinnatti, received the special commendation for citizen engagement for his his extensive fieldwork. Read more

WNBC sports anchor Bruce Beck has been named New York State Sportscaster of the Year for the sixth year running.

“We strive for [consistency] in our field — just like the athletes we cover,” Beck told our sister site, FishbowlNY.

Beck has worked at the NBC-owned station in New York City since 1998.

“I love covering the New York sports scene. There is always a game — always a story,” Beck said. “It’s compelling and challenging every day. With nine local teams to cover in the four major sports – your heart never stops pumping. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York City earlier this week.

• Related, TVNewser: ‘Good Morning America’ Inducted Into B&C Hall of Fame

Abernethy was one of 12 inductees. Alan Frank, the president and CEO of the Post-Newsweek Stations, was also honored at the event.

WNYW, the Fox O&O in New York City, covered the event on Tuesday’s “Good Day New York.” Watch it after the jump. Read more

Lloyd Siegel, NBC News Partnerships vice president, and Robert Decherd, Belo’s president and CEO, will receive 2013 RTDNF First Amendment Awards.

Siegel (pictured) is responsible for coordinating relationships between NBC and its more than 200 affiliated stations. He will be presented with the RTDNF First Amendment Service Award, given to a person who works in an off-air management capacity.

Decherd will receive the First Amendment Leadership Award, presented to a business leader who has significantly contributed “to protecting freedom of the press.” Belo owns 20 local stations across the country.

Both awards will be presented at the organization’s annual awards dinner in Washington, DC on March 14. CNN’s Candy Crowley will also be honored, receiving the Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award.

Milwaukee Fox affiliate WITI and Chicago NBC O&O WMAQ were the big winners at the 54th annual Chicago Midwest Emmy Awards Sunday night.

WITI won 12 awards, including for outstanding achievement in for news gathering in the hard news single feature and hard news series categories. The station was also honored for outstanding achievement for a news specialty report in the human interest category.

WMAQ won the night’s top honor, the Emmy for outstanding news gathering in the spot news category, for its coverage of the NATO conference in Chicago last year. The station also won an Emmy for outstanding achievement for news gathering in the soft news category. WMAQ led the Chicago stations with nine Emmys; Tribune-owned CW affiliate WGN won eight.

A full list of winners is after the jump. Read more

WFAA and WTHR were the two regional winners at the 33rd annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards, handed out Monday night in New York City.

WFAA, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, took home the Emmy for Outstanding Regional News Story in the Spot News category. The award for “A Day of Weather” was presented to executive producer Valerie Roberts-Evans, producer Eric Valadez and chief director Art MacLaren.

 Related, TVNewser: News and Doc Emmy Awards: PBS, ABC, CBS Lead List of Winners

WTHR, the NBC affiliate in Indianapolis, won Outstanding Regional News Story in the Investigative Reporting Category. Producer Cyndee Hebert, reporter Bob Segall, photojournalist Jim Hall and photojournalist-editor Bill Ditton were honored for “Reality Check: Where Are The Jobs?”

A full list of the winners is here.