Public Radio Dominates Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards

CPB-supported public media organizations won 245 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, announced April 23 by the Radio Television Digital News Association. The awards recognize the best journalism produced by radio, television and online news organizations in the United States and abroad.

Public radio claimed 237 awards -- more than three-quarters of the 307 awards in the U.S. radio categories. WLRN in Miami led all winners with 11 Regional Murrows, many of which were for coverage of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and its aftermath. Boston’s WBUR won 10, San Francisco’s KQED, eight, and Marfa (Texas) Public Radio, seven.

“These awards affirm the quality and the importance of the work that public media’s local journalists do every day,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB senior vice president, journalism and radio. “CPB is proud to support the commitment to local journalism displayed by the winning stations and journalism collaborations. Their coverage is vital to their communities.” 

Notably, 12 of public media’s Regional Murrows were won by journalism collaborations that were either launched with or receive CPB funding, including The Block that Prop 13 Built, in which the California Dream collaboration explored how 1978’s tax-slashing Proposition 13 affected homeowners on a single block in North Oakland; and How Prized Bull Semen and DNA Testing Are Reshaping America's Beef Herd, a Harvest Public Media series on how cattle ranchers are using genetics. The Mountain West News Service won three, including one for the feature Evicted and Homeless, This 14-Year-Old Describes Every Day as "a Fight." Texas Standard, the statewide collaborative daily public radio show, also won three, including one for Columbia's Final Flight, on the 15^th anniversary of the space shuttle’s descent over East Texas. 

“By funding collaboration, CPB is building journalism capacity, and building connections among stations to share ideas and grow engagement,” Merritt said. “We’ve laid the foundation to build a true public media network of journalists that will serve local, regional and national audiences for years to come, to keep our citizens informed and our democracy strong.”

Regional Murrow Award winning public media stations are listed below. Regional winners are automatically finalists for National Murrow Awards, which will be announced in June.

 

Region 1

Small Market Radio

• KLCC (Eugene, Oregon), 3
• Boise State Public Radio (Idaho) 3
• Jefferson Public Radio (Ashland, Oregon), 2 
• Montana Public Radio, 2
• Alaska Public Media

Large Market Radio

• Oregon Public Broadcasting, 5
• KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio (Seattle), 2
• KNKX (Seattle), 2

 

Region 2                                                                                               

Small Market Radio

• KUNR (Reno, Nevada), 3, including one partnership with Noticiero Móvil
• KAZU (Seaside, California), 3
• KCLU (Thousand Oaks, California), 2
• North State Public Radio (Chico, California)
• Valley Public Radio (Clovis, California)

Large Market Radio

• KQED (San Francisco), 8
• KPCC/LAist (Los Angeles)
• The California Dream collaboration

 

Region 3                                                                                               

Small Market Radio

• Wyoming Public Radio, 3
• KNAU - Arizona Public Radio (Flagstaff), 3
• KUNC (Greeley, Colorado), 2
• Arizona Public Media (Tucson)

Small Market Television

• Arizona Public Media (Tucson), 3

Large Market Radio

• KJZZ (Phoenix), 4
• Mountain West News Bureau, 3
• Colorado Public Radio (Denver), 2
• KUER (Salt Lake City)

 

Region 4

Small Market Radio

• South Dakota Public Broadcasting, 5

Large Market Radio

• Wisconsin Public Radio, 3
• Minnesota Public Radio, 2

 

Region 5                                                                                               

Small Market Radio

• KBIA (Columbia, Missouri), 6
• NET Radio (Lincoln, Nebraska), 4
• KMUW (Wichita, Kansas)

Large Market Radio

• St. Louis Public Radio, 3
• Kansas News Service, 2
• KCUR (Kansas City, Missouri)
• Harvest Public Media

Large Market Television

• Kansas City Public Television, 2, including one partnership with KSHB

 

Region 6                                                                                                

Small Market Radio

• Marfa Public Radio (Texas), 7
• KETR (Commerce, Texas)

Large Market Radio

• KERA (Dallas), 4
• KUT (Austin, Texas), 3
• Texas Standard, 3
• Texas Public Radio (San Antonio), 2
• KGOU-FM, KOSU-FM, KCCU-FM and KWGS-FM (Oklahoma)

 

Region 7                                                                                               

Small Market Radio

• WFIU (Bloomington, Indiana), 3
• WBAA (West Lafayette, Indiana), 3
• WNIN (Evansville, Indiana), 2
• Tri States Public Radio (Macomb, Illinois)
• WKSU (Akron, Ohio)
• Interlochen Public Radio (Michigan)
• WKAR (East Lansing, Michigan)

Large Market Radio

• Michigan Radio (Ann Arbor), 5
• WBEZ (Chicago), 2
• Ideastream (Cleveland)
• Side Effects Public Media (Indianapolis)

 

Region 8                                                                                               

Small Market Radio

• WFPL (Louisville, Kentucky), 3
• West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 3

Large Market Radio

• WUNC - North Carolina Public Radio (Chapel Hill), 5
• WFAE (Charlotte, North Carolina), 3
• Nashville Public Radio, 3
• WFDD (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), 2

 

Region 9                                                                                               

Small Market Radio

• WBHM (Birmingham, Alabama), 4
• Alabama Public Radio (Tuscaloosa, Alabama), 2

Large Market Radio

• WWNO (New Orleans), 4, including one collaboration with WRKF (Baton Rouge)

 

Region 10                                                                                           

Small Market Radio

• Vermont Public Radio, 6
• New Hampshire Public Radio, 3
• Maine Public Radio, 2
• New England Public Radio (Springfield, Massachusetts)
• WSHU (Fairfield, Connecticut)
• WCAI (Woods Hole, Massachusetts)

Large Market Radio

• WBUR (Boston), 10
• WGBH (Boston), 5, including one partnership with the New England Center for Investigative Reporting

Large Market Television

• Connecticut Public Broadcasting

 

Region 11                                                                                           

Small Market Radio

• WITF (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 5
• North Country Public Radio (Canton, New York), 3

Large Market Radio

• WHYY (Philadelphia), 3​
• WESA (Pittsburgh), 2​
• StateImpact Pennsylvania​
• WNYC (New York) partnership with The Marshall Project

 

Region 12                                                                                           

Small Market Radio

• Community Idea Stations (Richmond, Virginia), 6
• WVTF and RadioIQ (Charlottesville, Virginia), 4

Large Market Radio

• WAMU (Washington, DC), 2, including a partnership with The Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University

 

Region 13                                                                                           

Small Market Radio

1. WUFT (Gainesville, Florida), 6
2. WFSU (Tallahassee, Florida), 4
3. WGCU (Fort Myers, Florida)

Small Market Television

• WUFT (Gainesville, Florida), 2
• WFSU (Tallahassee, Florida)

Large Market Radio

• WLRN (Miami), 11
• WUSF (Tampa, Florida)