Winner 1988

The Best Insurance Commissioner Money Can Buy

WBRZ-TV

Every once in a while an example of investigative journalism in its purest, most absolute form comes to the fore. This is the type of reporting that uncovers damaging facts, makes them publicly available and leads to decisive action. Such is precisely the case with WBRZ-TV’s series, The Best Insurance Commissioner Money Can Buy. In early 1988 WBRZ began an investigation of alleged improprieties on the part of the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Louisiana. The team, led by executive producer John M. Spain, director Mike Haley and producer-reporter John Camp, uncovered evidence involving the newly-elected official’s relationships with one of the companies he was charged with regulating. By the end of 1988 major investigations had been launched by the U.S. Attorney, the Louisiana State Attorney General and other oversight groups. For an investigative effort of exceptional depth and diligence, a Peabody to WBRZ-TV for The Best Insurance Commissioner Money Can Buy.