October 28, 2020
Public radio dominated the 2020 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, announced at a virtual gala recently by the Radio Television Digital News Association to recognize outstanding journalism. With stories ranging from how lead exposure in infancy is affecting the youngest students in Flint, Michigan, to a swimming lesson with 7-foot-5-inch Boston Celtic Tacko Fall, public radio claimed 42 of the 51 radio category awards. Also included was one digital award for the story of how a central Pennsylvania man ended up being in an iconic D-Day photo, from WITF’s PA Post newsroom.
“These awards affirm the quality and the importance of the work that public media journalists do every day,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB senior vice president, Radio, Journalism and Community Service Grant Services. “CPB is proud to support these local stations and producers. Their coverage is vital to their communities and to the country.”
NPR won or shared eight awards, including for stories on casualties in the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northwest Syria, the Remain in Mexico immigration policy and an episode of “Hidden Brain” on life-and-death and quality of life decisions. The CPB-supported California Dream journalism collaboration led by KPCC won an award for a multimedia report on Graying California, and WNIN in Evansville, Indiana, won for ¿Qué Pasa, Midwest?, a podcast developed in 2016 through the CPB-supported Project Catapult podcast accelerator.
Here are the public media 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award national winners:
Small Market Radio
- Overall Excellence: KBIA, Columbia, Missouri
- Breaking News Coverage: Ventura County Brushfire Forces Thousands Of Evacuations, KCLU AM/FM, Thousand Oaks, California
- Continuing Coverage: Nebraska Flooding 2019, NET, Lincoln, Nebraska
- Excellence in Innovation: ¿Qué Pasa, Midwest? Season Four, WNIN-FM, Evansville, Indiana
- Excellence in Social Media: Three Mile Island: As It Happened, WITF, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- Excellence in Sound: Rescued Sea Otters Return To The Monterey Bay, KAZU Public Radio, Seaside, California
- Excellence in Video: Watch: The Legacy Of Maryann Sundown And Agnes Aguchak, KYUK Public Media and Alaska Public Media, Bethel, Alaska
- Excellence in Writing: Stanley Weber Trial, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Vermilion, South Dakota
- Feature Reporting: Model Citizen? No. But Exeter Man Is At Center of First Amendment Dispute, New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, New Hampshire
- Hard News: Box Of Ballots Found In Texas Could Change Outcome Of Midland Bond Proposal, Again, Marfa Public Radio, Marfa, Texas
- Investigative Reporting: Worse for Care, Vermont Public Radio and Seven Days, Colchester, Vermont
- Multimedia: WFPL Digital Coverage, WFPL, Louisville, Kentucky
- News Documentary: Red Bow, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Vermilion, South Dakota
- News Series: Oppressed By Wildfire, Jefferson Public Radio, Ashland, Oregon
- Podcast: Show Me The State: The Legend of Doc Annie, KBIA, Columbia, Missouri
- Sports Reporting: Four summits, an Interstate, and a grueling footrace, North Country Public Radio, Canton, New York
Large Market Radio
- Continuing Coverage: Noor Trial Coverage, MPR News, St. Paul, Minnesota
- Excellence in Innovation: Chicago's Towing Program is Broken, WBEZ Chicago Public Media, Chicago, Illinois
- Excellence in Sound: Mexican Street Food In Pilsen Now Includes Sweet Potatoes, WBEZ Chicago Public Media, Chicago, Illinois
- Excellence in Video: Artist Spotlight - Jordan Mathis - Visual Time-Lapse Artist, KERA, Dallas, Texas
- Excellence in Writing: What Do You Get From Demolishing Kansas City's Terminal A? A Lot Of Recycling, KCUR, Kansas City, Missouri
- Feature Reporting: Trying to Graduate From High School at 21, WNYC Radio, New York, New York
- Hard News: Exposed to lead in infancy, now Flint's youngest students face challenges in school, Michigan Radio, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Investigative Reporting: The Bad Bet, WBEZ Chicago Public Media and ProPublica Illinois, Chicago, Illinois
- Multimedia: Graying California, KPCC and California Dream Collaboration, Pasadena, California
- News Documentary: Two Years, Diaries of a Divided Nation, KCRW, Santa Monica, CA
- News Series: Infectious, WBUR, Boston, Massachusetts
- Podcast: Buried Truths, WABE- Public Broadcasting Atlanta, Georgia
- Sports Reporting: An East Texas Marching Band Upholds A Tradition – Maybe For The Last Time, Texas Standard (partnership of KUT, KERA, Texas Public Radio and Houston Public Media), Austin, Texas
Radio Network
- Continuing Coverage: 'There Is No Protection:' Exposing the Remain In Mexico Policy, NPR, Washington, D.C.
- Excellence in Innovation: NPR Student Podcast Challenge, NPR, Washington, D.C.
- Excellence in Social Media: Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, Emeryville, California
- Excellence in Sound: After the Water, NPR, Washington, D.C.
- Excellence in Writing: The Ventilator: Life, Death And The Choices We Make At The End, NPR, Washington, D.C.
- Feature Reporting: To The Ends Of The Earth, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, PRX, and PRI's The World, Emeryville, California
- Hard News: The Van: Casualties in the Baghdadi Raid, NPR, Washington, D.C.
- Investigative Reporting: Immigration Judge, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, Emeryville, California
- Multimedia: TahoeLand "Trawling for Clarity," CapRadio and NPR, Sacramento, California
- News Documentary: Into the Thaw: Decoding Thwaites Glacier, The World, Boston, Massachusetts
- News Series: Good Teachers, Bad Deal, NPR, Washington, D.C.
- Podcast: Dolly Parton's America, Osm Audio and WNYC Studios, Brooklyn, New York
- Sports Reporting: Learning To Swim With 7-Foot-5 Celtic Tacko Fall, WBUR and NPR, Boston, Massachusetts
Small Digital News Organization
- Excellence in Writing: How a Pennsylvanian Ended Up In Iconic D-Day Invasion Photo, PA Post (WITF), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
To subscribe to CPB spotlights, press releases, grant announcements and ombudsman reports, go to cpb.org/subscribe.
