Journalism Prof. Alex Kotlowitz won his first Emmy Award on Tuesday for his documentary “The Interrupters.”

The documentary, which Kotlowitz co-produced with filmmaker Steve James, won in the Outstanding Informational Programming category at the 34th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. The film was initially released in the U.K. in 2011. It depicts community peacemakers working with Ceasefire, a Chicago organization that employs former gang members to combat violence.

Previously, Kotlowitz won a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for his radio story “Mike and Victor: A Family Story,” which tells the story of a 24-year-old single white man who adopts a 9-year-old African-American boy he met while volunteering at a local orphanage. Kotlowitz has also received attention for “Harper High,” a WBEZ radio series he co-wrote about a Chicago high school that lost 29 current and recent students to shootings in a single year. 

Kotlowitz wrote last year’s One Book One Northwestern selection, “Never a City So Real,” which told the story of Chicago through the lenses of people who live there. He also authored “There are No Children Here,” a book about two brothers growing up in the projects that was selected as one of the 150 most important books of the 20th century by the New York Public Library.

 — Amy Whyte