CAPE NATIVE WINS SECOND EMMY IN ROW

Jeannie Hirsch Blaylock won an Emmy award Saturday night for an investigative news series on teenager pregnancy. The Cape Girardeau native works as news anchor and reporter at NBC-affiliate WTLV in Jacksonville, Fla.

It marks the second consecutive year she won the prestigious honor from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Blaylock attended the weekend awards ceremony in Miami.

"I'm really excited to win two years in a row," she said. "The series was nominated by other journalists around the country, which is why the Emmy is such a great honor. The best part is knowing that the story made an impact on a lot of people."

In the series, Blaylock and her camera crew followed a pregnant 12-year-old girl for a year.

"She became pregnant for a second time at age 13," she said. "We also went through labor and delivery with a 15-year-old mother."

Blaylock, 31, said that in the six-part series, young mothers told that pregnancy is not easy or glamorous.

"They encouraged other teens to use birth control or not to have sex in the first place," she said.

Another segment focused on "kids that had the guts to say no to sex altogether." Blaylock said: "They were virgins, and proud of it."

The series aired last July, and months later, Blaylock still receives calls from teenagers and parents who were touched by it.

"It was probably the first time in our television market that a teenager saw another teenager having a baby. It made a big impact for these kids to see someone their own age crying out in pain, and the fact they didn't have a daddy at home to help take care of the child," she said.

Blaylock said about 70 percent of teenagers never tell their parents their having sex, and that many start as young as 13. "Most girls have sex for an average of nine months before they try birth control," she pointed out.

Blaylock said she tries to gear her work to subjects that help families and teenagers.

"I do a lot of work on social problems," she said. "I try to mix my Christian beliefs in a very competitive industry to produce products that help somebody."

She credited her traditional family upbringing with giving her the perspective to tackle tough social issues.

"I was fortunate to be raised by loving parents who kept high standards and offered constant guidance. I wish every child had the same benefits. If I can reach out to these kids who don't have this foundation, it means the world to me. I feel I'm doing God's work."

Blaylock is the daughter of Jim and Beverly Hirsch of Cape Girardeau.

Beverly Hirsch said the Emmy is a huge honor for her daughter because it's an award given by her peers.

"We're certainly proud of her," her mother said. "To be nominated twice in itself is an honor. But to win Emmys both times is very special."

Last year, Blaylock won an Emmy for an investigative look at teenage drug usage called "Not My Kid." As part of that series, Blaylock went undercover to interview kids about their drug use.

A 1978 Cape Girardeau Central High School graduate, Blaylock did undergraduate work at William Jewell College and at Oxford University in England. While in England, she interned with the BBC.

She has worked in radio and television news.

Blaylock is the granddaughter of Oscar Hirsch, who founded KFVS-TV.