Susannah Frame is the chief investigative reporter and head of journalist development at KING 5.
As an investigative journalist Susannah's stories have exposed many wrongs, including the violation of treaty rights of indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, homeland security breaches, injustices faced by injured workers, civil rights violations of people with disabilities and the mismanagement of nuclear waste.
Susannah's investigations have led to changes in public policy, congressional and Department of Justice investigations, federal indictments and created many new state laws.
As head of journalist development, Susannah works with reporters, anchors, multi-skilled journalists, and producers to achieve the highest level of excellence in their work. She develops and implements curriculums on topics such as improving writing, story structure, story and source development, long-form storytelling techniques, organization, and on-air presentation.
Susannah is a frequent lecturer for groups such as the Investigative Reporters & Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the University of Washington Department of Communication.
Susannah has won many of the most prestigious national awards that honor journalism in the public interest. These include three George Foster Peabody Awards, three national Edward R. Murrow Awards, a national Emmy Award and a du-Pont Columbia University Award, considered the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.
Investigations, results, and honors
In 2023 Susannah won an Emmy Award, a Edward R. Murrow Award and a National Headliner Award, health and science reporting, for "Mentally Ill, Waiting in Jail." The series exposed a record-number of defendants with serious mental illness languishing in local jails across Washington state, without trial or treatment, despite court orders for immediate medical help in a hospital setting.
In 2022, Susannah won an Emmy, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a first place National Headliners Award, and a Society of Environmental Journalists Award for "Skagit: River of Light and Loss." The multi-part series uncovered the city's deception about the harm its Skagit River hydro-electric dams bring to salmon, orca whales and the culture and way of life to treaty tribes of the Skagit Valley.
In 2021, Susannah won a Peabody Award for her role as Content Editor for the groundbreaking series "Facing Race." The Peabody Awards recognize international excellence in stories that illuminate social issues with depth and complexity. "Facing Race" tackled systemic racism in the Pacific Northwest. Susannah also won a national Scripps Howard Award for her "Facing Race" contributions. The Scripps Howard Awards are one of the most prestigious American journalism competitions. In 2021, Susannah also won two regional Emmy Awards for "Facing Race," and her investigative series, "School of Broken Promises." That series led to the state of Washington severing ties with a shoddy school charged with retraining injured workers, yet left the students without a job or state benefits.
In 2020, Susannah won a national Edward R. Murrow Award, three regional Murrow Awards and a regional Emmy Award for the investigation "Veterans for Profit," which exposed corruption and exploitation inside one of Washington state's oldest nonprofits dedicated to supporting military veterans in need. The reporting led to the Washington State Attorney General seizing control of the charity, and ousting its leaders.
In 2019, Susannah won a Peabody Award, a national Edward R. Murrow Award, a Katherine Schneider Medal from the Cronkite School of Journalism, an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) certificate, three regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a regional Emmy for the year-long series: “Back of the Class.” The investigation uncovered that the state of Washington lags behind most of the nation in serving children in special education.
Also in 2019, Susannah won a national Emmy Award for her work on injustices faced by nuclear workers at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington state. The reporting also garnered a regional Emmy, the “Hanford Hero Award” from the watchdog group Hanford Challenge, and the “Worker’s Champion Award” from the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.
In 2018, Susannah won a National Headliner Award, a national Clarion Award, a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, three regional Emmy Awards, a regional Society of Professional Journalists Award, and a national Emmy nomination for investigations on Hanford, including the series “Sick and Forgotten at Hanford.” The Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) also selected the series as an award finalist. IRE awards recognize the most outstanding watchdog journalism in the country. The multi-part investigation exposed the decades long injustice of denying worker compensation claims to sick Hanford workers and led to a new state law to make it easier to get claims accepted.
Also in 2018, Susannah won a national Clarion Award and a regional Emmy Award for “Seven Years of Cyanide.” The series revealed safety failures that sickened workers and a cover-up of those problems at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.
In 2017, Susannah won a national Edward R. Murrow Award, a national Clarion Award, a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, a regional Emmy Award and a national Emmy nomination for “The Human Toll of Hanford’s Dirty Secrets.” The multi-part investigation exposed a decades-long effort by the United States government and its contractors to conceal the dangers of chemical vapors faced by workers at Hanford. The series led to Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filing suit against the U.S. Department of Energy on behalf of Hanford workers for the first time in state history. The parties agreed to a historic settlement agreement in 2019 that provides mandatory protections to keep workers safer.
Also in 2017, Susannah won a National Headliner Award, a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and an Emmy for “Last of the Institutions,” which exposed how the state of Washington lags behind much of the country in its continued institutionalization of people with developmental disabilities. The Dept. of Justice considers unnecessary segregation of the disabled a civil rights violation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
That year the Washington Coalition for Open Government (WCOG) selected Susannah as the recipient of the Kenneth F. Bunting Award - given for journalistic work that utilizes, advances, or educates about the state’s Open Public Meetings Act/Public Records Act. She and her colleagues in the KING 5 Investigative Unit were also honored by WCOG with the Key Award for promoting the cause of open government.
In 2016, Susannah won two national Clarion Awards, a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and an Emmy for “Last of the Institutions.” The ARC of King County honored her with a Legacy Award for this work. Susannah also won an Emmy for “No Eyes on the Disabled,” which led to a new state law aimed at better protections for adults with intellectual disabilities. In 2016 Susannah was nominated for a national Emmy for her series "The Human Toll of Hanford's Dirty Secrets."
In 2015, Susannah won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, a regional Emmy, a National Headliner Award and an IRE certificate for "The Human Toll of Hanford's Dirty Secrets."
Also in 2015, Susannah won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and a regional Emmy for "Suffering from Social Services" that revealed a systemic lack of accountability at the state's biggest agency – the Department of Social and Health Services. The reporting prompted action by the state legislature in the passage of "Aiden's Act.”
In 2014, Susannah's investigation "Hanford's Dirty Secrets" won a George Foster Peabody Award. The Peabody Awards are internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. IRE selected the series as an award finalist. The reports also won two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and a regional Emmy. "Hanford's Dirty Secrets" exposed mismanagement, deception and a waste of millions of tax dollars involving a leaking nuclear waste tank at the nation's most contaminated site – the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
In 2014, Susannah also won a regional Emmy for "Fostering Justice," that revealed Washington state lagged behind the rest of the country in protecting the rights of foster children. The reporting led to a new state law requiring - for the first time - legal counsel for some foster children in the state.
Also that year, Susannah was nominated for a National Emmy for her investigation "Fraud on the Job." The series exposed rampant fraud and abuse within Washington state's minority contracting program on federal highway projects.
In 2013, IRE selected "Fraud on the Job" as an award finalist. The project also won a Society of Professional Journalists Award and a regional Emmy for investigative reporting. Also in 2013, Seattle Magazine recognized Susannah and her colleagues in the KING 5 Investigative unit as some of the most influential people of the year in the region.
In 2011 Susannah won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in broadcast journalism for the investigation "Waste on the Water," which exposed millions of tax dollars wasted in the Washington State Ferry system. The duPont Awards are considered the most prestigious broadcast journalism awards and the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. For "Waste on the Water" Susannah also won a National Headliner Award, the National Press Club Consumer Journalism Award, a regional Society of Professional Journalists Award, the national Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Television Journalism, a regional Emmy and was selected as a finalist for the IRE awards.
Also in 2011, Seattle Magazine named Susannah one of the 25 Most Influential People of the Year, the Seattle Weekly named her Radio/Television Reporter of the Year, and the Municipal League of King County honored her as Governmental Reporter of the Year.
In 2010, Susannah won two national Clarion Awards and a national Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism from the Journalism Center on Children and Families for "State of Injustice,” that exposed flaws in Washington's child welfare system through the stories of two young foster children. She also won a regional Edward R. Murrow award, a regional Emmy, and a Society of Professional Journalists award for that work.
In 2008, Susannah e won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and a Society of Professional Journalists Award for "Exposing E-gate." The reporting uncovered the involvement of the Port of Seattle Police Department in sending or receiving pornographic and racist e-mails on government computers on government time.
In 2008, Susannah also won a regional Emmy for her work on the political program: "Upfront: Turmoil at the Port."
In 2007, Susannah won a regional Emmy and a Society of Professional Journalists award for "Nothing to Call Home," which exposed a mortgage scheme that victimized immigrants and fellow church members of the woman who masterminded the scam. These stories led to the arrest, federal indictment and conviction of the mortgage broker. That year Susannah also won a Society of Professional Journalists Award for "Signs of Trouble," that uncovered evidence of gang members working in the cargo bins of Alaska Airlines airplanes. In addition, she won a Society of Professional Journalists award for "Troubling Treatment," that exposed problems associated with an unlicensed facility offering treatment for people with mental illness. In 2007, Susannah also won an Emmy for Spot News.
In 2006, Susannah won the national Sigma Delta Chi Award for "Trouble on the Tarmac," which uncovered safety and security flaws at Alaska Airlines. This prestigious award is given by the Society of Professional Journalists. The series also won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and a Society of Professional Journalists Award. Susannah won another Society of Professional Journalists Award for "Deals of Deception," which exposed a mortgage fraud ring. "Deals of Deception" led to an FBI investigation, federal indictments and convictions. That year she also won a Society of Professional Journalists Award for "Cracks in the System," which exposed government waste and a slow response to critical problems in the city of Tacoma's sidewalk program. In 2006 she also won a Best of the West Award for Consumer Reporting.
In 2005, Susannah won a regional Emmy for "Slow to Act," which exposed the state's lack of aggressive action in closing problematic daycare centers. Also in 2005, Susannah won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for "Raffy's Story," that detailed the death of a young boy at the hands of his mother, after a series of warnings that weren't heeded by the Department of Social and Health Services. She was also honored with the Journalist of the Year Award from the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association for stories on unfair practices in the insurance industry.
In 2004, Susannah won a Society of Professional Journalists Award for "Fugitive Aid." This story uncovered wanted felons in Washington state were receiving welfare benefits, yet state agencies weren't sharing that information to help find the wanted criminals.
In 2003, Susannah won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, a regional Emmy and a Best of the West Award for Investigative Reporting for "Fugitive Aid."
Before joining the investigative unit, Susannah anchored KING 5 Weekend Morning News, KING 5 News at Noon, and was a general assignment reporter. She covered a number of high-profile stories for KING 5 News such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the O.J. Simpson trial.
Prior to joining KING 5, Susannah was a consumer reporter and weekend anchor for KREM-TV (CBS) in Spokane, a documentary producer in New York City, a reporter and anchor at WFRV-TV (ABC) in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and a reporter at KNDO-TV (NBC) in Yakima. Susannah began her career as a production assistant for CBS Sports.
Susannah holds degrees in Journalism and Spanish from the University of Washington. She also attended the University of Guadalajara in Mexico and Hunter College in New York City.
Susannah is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc.
She is a King County master gardener and supports community causes including the Ravenna Pop Up Kitchen and efforts to advance treatments for the rare blood cancer Erdheim Chester disease. Susannah enjoys tennis, gardening, skiing and entertaining. She is married with two boys and a black lab, Dewey, named after her grandpa.
You can email Susannah at sframe@king5.com. You can find her on Twitter @SFrameK5, and Facebook.
