Michigan Radio has been recognized with four regional Edward R. Murrow Awards in the Large Market Radio category. The station won awards in the Breaking News, Feature Reporting, Investigative Reporting, and News Series 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 “Midland Floods After Dams Give Way” won the award for Breaking News. In May 2020 eight inches of rainfall caused two dams on the Titabawassee River in mid-Michigan to give way, flooding Midland and causing about 10,000 people to evacuate. Reporters Tracy Samilton, Lester Graham, Rick Pluta, and the Stateside team covered the flood that caused huge amounts of damage, feared dioxin contamination, and debates over how the dams could have been kept in such ill repair.
Dustin Dwyer’s report “An Unplanned March, An Unlikely Leader” took the award in the Feature Reporting category. The story was about a man on a bicycle, draped in an American Flag, who gave an impromptu speech and inspired protesters to march with him during last summer’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
The Investigative Reporting award went to Dustin Dwyer’s “'It’s Still Not right.' An Investigation into Lakeside Academy” a look into the home for children where 16-year-old Cornelius Fredrick died after being restrained for throwing a piece of bread in the cafeteria.
Michigan Radio also received the award for Best News Series for “Chronicling COVID in Michigan”, a series of first-person COVID stories produced by Rachel Ishikawa, Sarah Cwiek, and Tracy Samilton, with editing by Jen Guerra and Sarah Hulett. The series follows COVID and its effects on people – from healthcare workers to funeral directors, long-haulers to inmates in prison, all who are just trying to get through the pandemic.
Regional winners of the Murrow Awards automatically advance to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards competition, which will be judged this fall. A complete list of the 2021 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.
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.
