KPRC wins first-place National Headliner Award for best newscast

KPRC 2 has been honored with a first-place National Headliner Award in the category "Best Newscast," recognizing the news team's 6 p.m. show on the day of the Astroworld Tragedy in Houston.

The judge’s comments are below:

“This Astroworld newscast brought out the exceptional chaos with an emphasis on concertgoers in this tragedy. This was quite an expansive edition of an investigation that went beyond the normal. (There was) excellent use of visuals, including strong social media graphics. The strong collection of first-hand accounts of what happened made the story stick.”

You can watch the award-winning newscast here.

As for the National Headliner Awards, this is one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic merit.

The list of winners across print, online, broadcast and radio is quite impressive. View the full list here.

KPRC was the only Houston news organization to be recognized.

KPRC 2 celebrates Women's History Month in March

Throughout the month of March, KPRC 2 will celebrate the historic accomplishments of groundbreaking women and the current generation changing the face of our communities and country.

Women’s history will be a part of KPRC 2’s ongoing “Voices of Houston” initiative, spotlighting people in and around the Greater Houston area, making a difference in the community.

As part of KPRC 2’s decades-long mission of diversity and inclusion – and its ongoing commitment to spotlighting the triumphs, struggles and opinions of our city’s diverse communities – the station will celebrate women’s history through weekly on-air news packages, along with "Houston Life" stories featuring local women-owned businesses. Profiles will include some of Houston’s first female broadcasters who worked at KPRC 2.

“Every day, KPRC 2 celebrates Houston’s diverse communities through our storytelling,” said KPRC 2 Vice President/General Manager Jerry Martin. “We will continue our efforts by recognizing the wealth of history-making women who have come before us, and many currently walking amongst us.”

All women’s history content will also be available on KPRC 2 digital platforms, including www.click2houston.com/voices, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

KPRC Channel 2 Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief raises more than $4.5 million

KPRC-TV Channel 2 KPRC and Telemundo Houston partnered with the American Red Cross to support the Harvey relief effort.  When KPRC opened the phone lines, viewers delivered, calling in donations of all sizes!  
 
Between August 30 and 31, individuals called in pledges of more than a million dollars ($1,067,358) and donated another $269,530 online at Click2houston.com.  Corporations stepped up to present checks worth nearly $3.2 million ($3,175,000). That's more than $4.5 million ($4,511,888.00) pledged to help our Houston neighbors in need!
 
On top of that, a representative from Walmart dropped in to the KRPC 2 studio to present the Red Cross with $10,000,000 to help the Gulf Coast recover.
 
This relief effort is massive, and viewers can continue to donate by looking for a link on the Click2Houston.com homepage or dropping off change in the special donation boxes at the register of your local Kroger grocery store.  Every bit helps and adds up to a lot of help for victims of Hurricane Harvey.

'Straight Talk from the Candidates' Effort To Inform Voters

In an effort to inform voters and arm them with the tools they need to make their choices at the polls, KPRC2 invited candidates in major political races to address viewers in a special hour-long public service program, “Straight Talk from the Candidates.” The program was presented commercial-free on Friday, October 21st at 7 p.m. and was produced without commentary in order to serve as a forum for candidates to share their visions without interruption.

KPRC2 also partnered with Telemundo Houston to host a bilingual phone bank for voter information on October 24th, as early voting began. These initiatives complemented KPRC2’s election coverage, which included sending reporters to cover every debate, conventions and important stops along the campaign trail.

'Clear The Shelters' Promotes Pet Adoption

KPRC2’s commitment to the community extends to our four-legged friends.

In July, KPRC2 partnered with Telemundo Houston to help Clear the Shelters as part of a nationwide initiative spearheaded by NBC. The program encouraged overcrowded shelters to waive or deeply discount their adoption fees in order to curb euthanasia rates. Through extensive promotion of pet adoption facilities and programs, along with tips on responsible pet ownership via promotional spots and on-air interviews, Clear the Shelters helped alleviate over-crowding problems in Houston area shelters at a time of year when adoptions traditionally occur less frequently.

Through the campaign, more than 2,500 pets were adopted in the Houston area, with totals surpassing 47,000 pet adoptions nationwide.

KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive Supports Community

The Houston area sees a drop in blood donations each summer, so KPRC2 worked to raise awareness and help increase life-saving blood supplies in partnership with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. The KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive, hosted in front of the station on June 16th, resulted in 1,412 blood donations.

The quantity represents a nine percent increase in donations over prior year totals and gave KPRC2 the designation of having the largest media-sponsored blood drive event in Houston. Each blood donation has the potential to save up to three lives, so the KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive alone could impact more than 4,000 people in the Houston area and beyond. In fact, once local blood supply needs were met, some donations collected at the KPRC2 Summer Blood Drive were sent to help victims of the mass nightclub shooting in Orlando.