WBRZ News 2 awarded 2013 National Media Award by the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 29, 2013 BATON ROUGE, La. - The American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons honored WBRZ News 2 Louisiana with an ASCRS 2013 National Media Award. WBRZ News 2 won first place in the Broadcast category for their public service announcements and three-part series on "The Cancer Nobody Talks About" which promotes awareness of screenings and prevention of colon cancer. The WBRZ series is notable for its interviews with patients, who told their stories, but who also shared video of their colonoscopies, so viewers saw colon tumors as they appeared inside of patients. The graphic video was effective in getting out the screening message while delivering compelling narrative. WBRZ is also an annual sponsor of the "Get Your Rear In Gear" 5K walk/run to raise awareness for colon and rectal cancer. "It is an honor to receive this award," said WBRZ anchor, and The Cancer Nobody Talks About' spokesperson John Pastorek, "but it is more of an honor to be given the opportunity to get the message out about colon and rectal cancer, because screenings could save lives." ASCRS established the National Media Awards program in 1995 to acknowledge achievement in promoting a greater public understanding of colon and rectal disease, such as colon cancer, hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, and Crohn's Disease. Each year, the Society presents awards honoring the best work in three major media categories: Print (newspaper or magazine, Broadcast (television or radio), and Internet (information created for a general audience and presented exclusively on the Internet). The awards were presented at the ASCRS 2013 Annual Scientific Meeting Saturday, April 27- May 1, 2013, held the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

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