Belo Presents 2006 William H. Seay Award to Debbie Maddox, Corporate Benefits Manager, for Extraordinary Service

DALLAS, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Belo Corp. announced today that corporate benefits manager Debbie Maddox received the 13th annual William H. Seay Award at the Company's 2006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The award is named in honor of the late William H. Seay, who served on Belo's Board of Directors for 22 years before his retirement in 1995. The award is given annually by the Board of Directors to an employee whose standards and values reflect Seay's integrity, loyalty, journalistic standards and community commitment, the same principles that have guided Belo for more than 160 years.

In presenting the award, Marian Spitzberg, Belo senior vice president/Human Resources, said, "Debbie has distinguished herself not just by what she has accomplished in her 21 years at Belo, but also by how she has helped others throughout the Company with some of their most personal concerns and needs. She deserves Belo's highest honor because of her extraordinary service and exceptional character. Her helpful, caring spirit and values exemplify the heart and soul of our Company."

"Employees can always count on Debbie to help whether they need an intermediary with healthcare or insurance providers about a major medical condition, an explanation about a new benefits program, or simply a response to an information request," she added.

Maddox has worked in Human Resources for 16 of her 21 years with the Company. Her career began as production office secretary at The Dallas Morning News in 1985 where she learned the importance of meeting deadlines and teamwork in getting the newspaper produced and delivered on time for customers every day. In 1988, Debbie was promoted to mail center supervisor, where she made sure thousands of pieces of mail reached the right person every day.

Her caring, personal approach caught the attention of the Human Resources Department and Debbie was asked to join that team in 1990 as HR systems coordinator. One year later she was promoted to benefits coordinator, and in 1996 her duties expanded again in a new assignment as benefits administrator.

When Belo acquired The Providence Journal Company in 1997 and human resource needs expanded across the Company, Maddox was promoted to benefits analyst at corporate. In 1999, she was promoted to her current position as corporate benefits manager. In this role she is responsible for Belo's health and welfare benefits, which involves designing the Company's healthcare plans; determining the eligibility of employees and their families for coverage; overseeing life, accident and disability insurance programs; managing the Belo benefits hotline; and establishing the Company's http://www.belobenefits.com/ Web site.

Maddox graduated from Baptist Christian College in Shreveport, Louisiana, with a bachelor's degree in business. She currently serves on the board of the Dallas-area Worldwide Employee Benefits (WEB) group, a network of nearly 2,000 members representing more than 25 professions and 30 areas of expertise within the pension and benefits industry.

Debbie grew up near Henderson, Texas, where she and her husband Joe have a 55-acre farm and second home. She has two sons, Kit Maddox and Scott Smitherman, three stepchildren and eight grandchildren.

About Belo

Belo Corp. is one of the nation's largest media companies with a diversified group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media assets. A Fortune 1000 company with 7,700 employees and $1.5 billion in annual revenues, Belo operates in some of America's most dynamic markets in Texas, the Northwest, the Southwest, Rhode Island, and the Mid-Atlantic. Belo owns 19 television stations, six of which are in the 15 largest U.S. broadcast markets. The Company also owns or operates seven cable news channels and manages one television station through a local marketing agreement. Belo's daily newspapers are The Dallas Morning News, The Providence Journal, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) and the Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, TX). The Company also publishes specialty publications targeting young adults and the fast-growing Hispanic market, including Quick and Al Dia in Dallas/Fort Worth, and El D and La Prensa in Riverside. Belo operates more than 30 Web sites associated with its operating companies. Additional information is available at http://www.belo.com/ or by contacting Carey Hendrickson, vice president/Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, at 214-977-6626.