In First Full Year On-Air, FUSION Nominated for Two News & Documentary Emmy Awards for Investigative Reporting

July 22, 2015 -- FUSION has been nominated for two News & Documentary Emmy Awards. FUSION’s documentary special “Pimp City: A Journey to the Center of the Sex Slave Trade” was recognized with nominations in both the “Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form” category as well as the “Outstanding Research” category. “Pimp City” was a cross-platform investigative report that combined a television documentary with an immersive digital experience (FUSION.net/PimpCity). Nominations were announced today by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS).  

As authorities struggle to keep up with the explosion in sex trafficking to the U.S., FUSION took viewers on a journey from America’s secret neighborhood brothels, to the remote city that trafficks more sex slave to the U.S., than anyplace else. FUSION Correspondent Mariana van Zeller and her team of female producers fearlessly traced the journey of one trafficked girl from Queens, New York back to the dangerous Mexican city of Tenancingo, where boys as young as 12 are taught how to pimp. The locals make it very clear they are not welcome.  In a gripping, interview van Zeller finally confronts the girl’s incarcerated pimp.  

Sex slaves are the “product” trafficked by the fastest growing illegal industry in the world. Girls as young as 12 are plucked from their homes and sent to the U.S.by a shadowy network that has spread across the country. “In the US, we fought wars to end slavery, but it continues, worse than ever. As an American, I am ashamed,“ Loretta Lynch, US Attorney Eastern District New York, told FUSION.   

Outstanding Investigative Journalism-Long-Form 

Pimp City: A Journey to the Center of the Sex Slave Trade 

Executive Producer: Keith Summa 

Producer: Cristina Costantini 

Investigative Producer: Alice Brennan 

Additional Producers: William Gallego, Diana Oliva-Cave, Rayner Ramirez 

Investigative Correspondent: Mariana van Zeller  

Outstanding Research 

Pimp City: A Journey to the Center of the Sex Slave Trade 

Researchers: Mariana van Zeller, Alice Brennan , Cristina Costantini  

ABOUT FUSION 

FUSION is a multi-platform media company that serves a young, diverse, and inclusive millennial generation across its television and digital platforms. FUSION delivers a unique mix of news, pop culture, and comedy content that is both smart and irreverent. FUSION’s cable network was launched as a joint venture between Univision Communications Inc. and the Disney/ABC Television Network on October 28, 2013; FUSION launched a new website in February 2015. FUSION has agreements with several major distributors to carry the cable network including DirecTV, Dish, Cablevision, Charter, Cox, AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FiOS and Google Fiber as well as OTT providers including Apple TV.

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Media Contact: David Ford / david@fusion.net / 305-925-8882