TODAY's Bob Dotson has won more than 100 awards spotlighting the extraordinary accomplishments of everyday Americans. Now his long-running “American Story” feature, a staple of the TODAY show, has won a remarkable sixth Edward R. Murrow award for writing.
Three American Story segments were the winning entries: "Feeding Joplin," a look at a diner in tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo., where patrons helped employees who had lost everything by paying $100 for a $7 salad;"Veteran's Day Babies," a profile of a quadriplegic Iraq War veteran whose two small babes also survived long odds; and "Millionaire Janitor," about a $3.4 million lottery winner who kept his job as a high school custodian and track coach (and also gave his school a new $40,000 track).
For more than 30 years, Dotson has crisscrossed the nation, celebrating the extraordinary accomplishments of everyday people in his “American Story” reports. His many accolades include five national Emmys and nine nominations and top journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers, DuPont-Columbia, and the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation.
Viking Press will publish a book version of "American Story with Bob Dotson" next January, featuring many of his inspiring reports in written form. Bob says, “This book is for everyone who yearns to feel better about America again.”
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Finding hope in Joplin after the tornadoes