Michigan Radio was recognized with three awards from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) for the station’s news reporting. The station won First Place in three categories for coverage related to abortion rights and the Oxford school shooting.
Michigan Radio won First Place in the Continuing Coverage category for Abortion Rights on Michigan Ballot. Abortion remained legal in Michigan following the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, but only because a state supreme court ordered an injunction against enforcing a 1931 state law banning all abortions in Michigan. The issue was put on the November, 2022 ballot as Proposal 3, which would guarantee reproductive rights in the state constitution. Michigan Radio provided continuing coverage of this issue and debate throughout 2022, and continues to do so today.
The station also took First Place in the Enterprise category for Nine Days in a Michigan Abortion Clinic, as Election Looms. This story, which was also a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and nominated for a Peabody Award, took listeners behind the closed doors of an abortion clinic, allowing them to hear conversations between practitioners and patients. It helped illustrate the complex, confusing, and at times contradictory legal landscape abortion providers and patients had been thrust into.
Michigan Radio’s Stateside show took First Place in the News and Public Affairs Program category for Oxford, One Year Later. This program shared the stories of the students, friends, teachers and family members impacted by the Oxford High School shooting, one year after a student pulled a gun from his backpack, and opened fire on his classmates.
The Public Media Journalists Association is a non-profit professional association that exists to improve local news and information programming by serving public media journalists across the United States. The awards recognize the best work in public media journalism from across the country, with stations competing against others with similar-sized newsrooms. Michigan Radio competes in Division AA, which is for public radio stations with news staffs of 16 or more. You can view the complete list of PMJA Award winners here.
