Capitol Broadcasting Wins 2015 NAB Service to Community Award for eNOughNC Domestic Violence Initiative
Hundreds of times over the course of any average day, employees of Capitol Broadcasting contribute in many ways to the mission of serving our communities. In 2015, there was one achievement that stood out because it involved many contributors and divisions of the company, and had stakes so high that often life itself is in the balance. The eNOugh Domestic Violence campaign embodies our company’s commitment to the powerful responsibility of local broadcasting and it led to us earning one of the most coveted awards for broadcasters in the country, the NAB Service to the Community Award.
The stakes are indeed high. One out of four women experience domestic violence. Its effects are devastating. Children who grow up in homes with domestic violence are more likely to become abusers themselves. It knows no boundaries of education, income or status and sometimes hits very close to home.
FOX50 Account Executive Liz Kline witnessed domestic violence as a child. Instead of becoming a sad statistic, she channeled the experience into the vision of bringing help to others. Liz gathered a task force of experts, including the Coalition against Domestic Violence, The Council for Women, InterAct and local law enforcement. The mission was to find a way to use the power of broadcasting to connect victims with resources in their community. After many meetings and a lot of hard work by Kline and her team, the statewide eNOUgh Campaign was born. In May of 2015, Liz Kline and FOX50 Director of Local Sales Niel Sollod worked with the Coalition against Domestic Violence to help write a grant, and with that were awarded a $200,000 investment from the Governors Crime Commission to launch the initiative.
“This non-profit organization was experienced at grant writing, and Liz had made a powerful impression with a motivated partner in state government. The funding was made available with money from the Office on Violence against Women and needed to be used for outreach with the purpose of connecting victims with services,” said Sollod.
Public Service announcements blanketed CBC television and radio stations. A landing page, eNOughNC.org was created with a listing of domestic violence service providers and a statewide web campaign was targeted to at risk populations across the state. Posters for eNOugh with help line numbers were displayed at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
WRAL-TV Sales Manager Laura Stillman knew that this issue would resonate with WRAL-TV News and approached WRAL Creative Services Director Shelly Leslie.
“When Liz Kline and Laura Stillman brought eNOugh to me and asked for help to grow it, I was inspired by their passion!” said Leslie. “I’m honored to be part of it and really proud of the difference we made. “
In August, the subject of domestic violence became a national news focus with the discovery of a video tape of NFL player Ray Rice abusing his fiancée.
“CBC went ‘all in’ on making domestic violence a major thrust for the next several months,” said Stillman. “It was highlighted by the 90-second announcement that we aired during a Ravens’ football game and a four hour live telethon with counselors on standby to help victims.”
“We made the decision to carve out two and half minutes of paid inventory in the NFL opener to devote that time to domestic violence with a PSA featuring our male news talent. I don’t know if there is another station in the country that would do that,” said Steve Hammel, Vice President and General Manager of WRAL and FOX50.
“The group effort that extended to the application process for the award was an example of the collaboration throughout,” said Sollod. “We knew we wanted to tell the story for the application to the NAB with a video so I outlined a draft for a script, and Shelly Leslie spent many hours writing and re-writing it, identifying the B Roll and coordinating on camera appearances by Liz Kline, Steve Hammel and Debra Morgan.” Former WRAL producer Christian McIlwain compiled and edited the final product.
FOX50 Director of Sales Matt Donegan is no stranger to the NAB award, having coordinated a win for FOX50 in 2008. “We are so proud of Liz and the CBC eNOugh team on so many levels. Each division brought something to the discussion and helped rocket this campaign to another level. “
There are few broadcasters that have both the powerful media platforms of CBC and the culture that promotes a unified will towards community service. The real winners are the thousands of victims who have been helped as a result of this campaign.
For Liz Kline, this award is the ultimate recognition that hard work and vision will produce results: “eNOugh has brought out the best in each of us and the best in Capitol Broadcasting Company. I poured blood, sweat, & tears into eNOugh but at the end of the day, the Service to America Community Award was earned by all of us at CBC. It’s an honor to have played a role in such a monumental accolade.”
The award ceremony will be held in Washington, DC on June 16.
Thanks to FOX 50’s Niel Sollod for this capcom story.
