Some critics of journalism schools say they are too far removed from the profession. They claim too much time is spent studying news media and too little time devoted to learning news reporting.

The School of Journalism, however, has faculty and graduate students who have already done plenty of news reporting. Now one of them, first-year doctoral student Gerry Lanosga, is winning major awards for his work last year as a producer at WTHR-TV in Indianapolis.

Lanosga and his team of reporters at WTHR have racked up five major awards for their series, "Cause for Alarm," an investigation into a breakdown of tornado warning systems in Indiana. The team won the Jack R. Howard Award from Scripps Howard, a Peabody Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Certificate, the National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award.

The idea for "Cause for Alarm," Lanosga said, developed after he attended an IRE computer assisted reporting workshop in Missouri. Lanosga and his team decided to use the geographic information system (GIS) mapping skills he had learned at the IRE workshop to generate a map of tornado siren coverage in Indiana. The map they developed showed a lack of coverage in some areas.

"The data really jumped out of the maps," he said.

Even more startling, he said, county officials responsible for the sirens were not keeping track of their locations or functionality. The situation, he said, was "pretty appalling."

Lanosga's collaborator and WTHR investigative reporter Bob Segall said he thinks the awards were an affirmation of his "station's commitment to doing journalism that really matters."

"We like to choose projects that really make a difference in the community," he said. "That's what the judges are recognizing when they look at these stories."

Though "Cause for Alarm" includes interviews with officials and residents in uncovered areas, it was Lanosga's understanding of GIS mapping that really jump-started the project, Segall said.

"Without those mapping skills, 'Cause for Alarm' never would have happened," he said.

Now that Lanosga has moved into academia, those at the station have mixed feelings.

"We're very excited for Gerry and a little disappointed for ourselves," Segall said. "Gerry was a real asset at WTHR."

Colorado native Lanosga had been working on the investigative team at WTHR nine years, having spent the eight years before that as a reporter at the Indianapolis Star and the now-defunct Indianapolis News.

The switch from print to broadcast was fortunate, he said, because newspapers were at the beginning of a period of upheaval just as WTHR was initiating a focus on hard-hitting investigations.

"Broadcasting has been very good to me, and I love the power of television as a medium, but I have to say I'll always have a lot of printer's ink in the veins," he said.

Dean Brad Hamm said that the school benefits from having people like Lanosga who have had distinguished professional careers.

"I've always felt that some of the best scholars are people who clearly understand journalism," Hamm said. "The skill of being a great journalist also applies to being a great researcher."

Lanosga said he's happy with his decision to become an academic, but he plans to "keep a foot in both camps."

"I love the profession," he said. "I will always consider myself a journalist."


(Web editor Gena Asher contributed to this story.)



Read "Cause for Alarm" at the WTHR Web site.