KJZZ

Northern Exposure
KJZZ’s long-time host, reporter and friend Terry Ward is gearing up for a new adventure in broadcasting. After 26 years with KJZZ, he’s heading north to serve as KNAU’s All Things Considered host.

Terry’s last day with KJZZ is July 6 and he’ll take to the KNAU airwaves on July 30. In the meantime, we hope you’ll take the time to wish him well and thank him for his years of service to KJZZ. We will miss you, Terry Ward. You have left an indelible mark in the Valley and in our hearts!

Silver Key

Congratulations to KJZZ Managing Editor Al Macias for 25 years of broadcast excellence and his recent induction into the Society of Professional Journalists Order of the Silver Key Society.

Macias joined the KJZZ news team in October 2010 and is a well-known, highly respected Valley journalist who has served a variety of broadcast outlets including KNXV, KPNX and KTVK.

National Headliner
The National Headliner Awards recognized KJZZ Senior Correspondent Michel Marizco for his June 2011 investigative report, Drug War and Cartels Lead to an Exodus in Northern Mexico.
 
Marizco traveled to Sonora, Mexico to report on the towns that are emptying out due to drug-related violence, especially the town of Tubutama, which has been affected by a narco-trafficker known as “El Gilo.”


Marizco spent time with the remaining residents of Tubutama, a 300-year-old mission town, and even found himself face-to-face with El Gilo.
 
“Any time a local drug lord shows up and talks to you on a piece, you know it’s going to be a great story,” said Fronteras Senior Editor Alisa Barba, who edited the story and shares in the award.
 
Marizco has a habit of showing up at the right place and the right time, Barba said. “He really got to the essence of the fear and the violence in the hills of Sonora.”
 
The Tucson-based reporter said he wanted to do a story about the places affected by the drug war that aren’t making headlines.
 
“This town had always interested me because a year prior El Gilo had successfully killed cartel members. He left 21 people dead and destroyed their vehicles in an ambush,” Marizco said. Photos of those shot-up vehicles are part of the online version of the story.
 
“Nobody else is telling these stories,” Barba said. “This is our territory with Fronteras.”
 
The story was awarded second place in the Feature and Human Interest Story category for broadcast radio networks and syndicates.

Founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City, the National Headliner Awards program is one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic merit in the communications industry.