Michigan Radio has been recognized with four regional Edward R. Murrow Awards in the Large Market Radio category. The station won awards in the Hard News, News Series, Documentary and Multimedia categories. The Murrow Awards are presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) to honor outstanding achievements in electronic journalism. The winning entries from Michigan Radio are as follows:
Michigan Radio’s collective work on Climate Change won the award for News Series. It began in August 2019 with a week-long series of investigative reports and interviews on the effects of climate change in Michigan. The stories were heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Stateside. After the initial week, coverage continued with ongoing features looking deeper at numerous Michigan climate change issues including reports on how warmer weather increased mosquito borne diseases, how farmers are changing tilling processes and how climate change is being taught in the classroom.
Kate Wells’ report “Exposed to lead in infancy, now Flint’s youngest students face challenges in school,” took the award in the Hard News category. The story was a feature looking at the rise in the number of young special needs students five years after the Flint water crisis and the everyday challenges for these children, both inside and outside the classroom.
The Best Documentary award went to Lester Graham and the Michigan Radio Stateside staff for “Life on the Inside”, an hour-long documentary examining Michigan’s prison system through the eyes of the people who call it home – the prisoners. Michigan Radio was given unprecedented access to Lakeland Correctional Facility, bringing listeners the stories of men serving life in prison there, and what life on the inside is like for them.
Michigan Radio also received the award for Best Multimedia for “Life on the Inside”, for their work complementing the week-long reports and documentary examining Michigan’s prison system. With rich audio, outstanding photography, and a robust web buildout, Michigan Radio’s digital and Stateside teams shed light on the prison system through the lens of the people who call it home.
Regional winners of the Murrow Awards automatically advance to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards competition, which will be judged in May. A complete list of the 2020 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards winners can be found here.
Michigan Radio competes in Region 7 in the Large Market Radio category, which consists of public and commercial radio stations in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Other public radio stations in Michigan winning regional Murrow Awards were WMUK (Kalamazoo) and WDET (Detroit).
The Radio Television Digital News Association is the world's largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. RTDNA has been honoring excellence in journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971, and the Murrow Awards are among the most respected journalism awards in the world.
