2011 Journalism Award Winners

The Stuttering Foundation announces its 2011 Awards for Excellence in Journalism.

“Thanks to The King’s Speech, the sheer volume of articles and interviews on stuttering made this year’s choice very difficult,” said Jane Fraser, president of the Foundation. “This film has raised awareness of stuttering beyond any level we could ever have imagined and, in turn, was the force behind all other entries.”

Category: Radio
First Place (tie):
The Emily Rooney Show, WGBH in Boston, Dec. 22, 2010.
About Our Kids, Doctor Radio Sirius XM, Feb. 11, 2011, Jess Shatkin, MD & Lori Evans, PhD, Program Hosts; Melanie Kron, Producer; Emily Anton, Sound Engineer; and Maurice Tunick, Senior Director Talk Programming.

Category: Wire Services
First Place: Lindsey Tanner of the Associated Press, Feb. 4, 2011, “King’s Speech earns praise from kids who stutter.”
Second Place: Victoria Ahearn of the Canadian Press, Dec. 9, 2010, article titled “Experts on Stuttering Praise The King’s Speech for Highlighting Condition”

Category: Editorial
First Place: Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn., for an editorial on Dec. 28, 2010, titled “A Clear Message.” The Commercial Appeal also gave exceptional coverage to the Stuttering Foundation during the year with outstanding articles by Lesley Young and Toby Sells, whose article ran on the paper’s front page.

Category: National Daily Newspaper Article
First Place: Mary Brophy Marcus of USA Today for her Nov. 28, 2010, article “Stuttering: A Constant Struggle to Get the Words Out.”

Category: Daily Newspaper Article
First Place: Lindy Washburn of The Record for her Dec. 2, 2010, article “Therapists praise new movie for raising awareness of stuttering.”
Second Place: Jim Fussell of the Kansas City Star for his Dec. 23, 2010, article, “The King’s Speech puts stuttering in the spotlight.”

Category: Magazine Articles
First Place: Tim Appelo of the Hollywood Reporter for his Jan. 25, 2011, article titled “King’s Speech Wins 13th Honor: Stuttering Foundation Gives It ‘A Hero’s Welcome.’”
Second Place: Lynn Allison for “Six Ways to Help Kids Stop Stuttering” in the March 28, 2011, issue of Globe Magazine.

Category: Syndicated Columnists
First Place: Dr. Peter Gott for his national column on April 10, 2011.

Category: Local Television News
First Place (tie):
Ali Gorman of WPVI TV, Philadelphia, Pa., for a Dec. 13, 2010, interview with Joe Donaher of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Alex Coleman and Marybeth Conley of WREG TV, Memphis, Tenn., interview with Jane Fraser on Feb. 9, 2011.

Category: National Television News
First Place: 60 Minutes of CBS News for an interview with wildlife conservationist Alan Rabinowitz.

Category: Internet Blog
First Place: Elizabeth Landau of CNN for her Feb. 28, 2011 article, “The King’s Speech a victory for stutterers.”
Second Place: Ian Thornton of shows.ctv.ca for his Feb. 28, 2011, post “George Slays His Dragon.”
Third Place: Kenneth J. Staub for his posting on ASHAsphere (blog.asha.org). His blogs focused on raising stuttering awareness through a review of The King’s Speech.

Category: Website
First Place: Ninette Sosa of CNN aired an interview with Jane Fraser during numerous radio broadcasts.
“Each entry successfully enhanced the public’s understanding of stuttering,” said Fraser.

-From the Fall 2011 Newsletter

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

Byron Pitts

Byron Pitts has brought much attention to stuttering with his memoir, Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges, released in September, 2009. The book not only details his speech difficulties, but also his illiteracy until age 12 and his unstable family life. Pitts overcame the odds to become the chief national correspondent with ABC News.

Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.

Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor has been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter for many years, but probably few people know all of the unique accomplishments of this former hockey great who was born on December 4, 1955, in Levack, Ontario.

King George

In November 2010, worldwide movie audiences were presented with a most interesting and unusual movie release with The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as King George VI and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, history may have forgotten the courageous and inspiring story of Prince Albert who stuttered badly and never dreamed that he would ever be king when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abruptly abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.