Kane was honored for his courage in the face of deranged UNC fans who were upset by his coverage of the scandal.
The UNC scandal has affected many people and brought many things into focus, including the lunatic fringe of Carolina fans. The star reporter in all of this has been the N&O's Dan Kane.
The uglier elements resorted to "violent threats" and "multimedia smear campaigns" against Kane, which was no doubt highly stressful for his family.
Well, he who laughs best and all of that: Kane will be the 2015 recipient of the McCulloch Courage in Journalism Award.