Vermont Public Radio is the winner of six regional Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association.
VPR received awards for breaking news coverage, feature reporting, investigative reporting, series, sports coverage, and for the website.
In the breaking news category, VPR’s coverage of the story of Captain Richard Phillips, who was taken captive by pirates off the Somali coast, was the winning entry. VPR chronicled the drama carefully and respectfully, including an interview with Captain Phillips on Vermont Edition.
In the feature reporting category, Lynne McCrea’s continuing coverage of a homeless family in Chittenden County and their struggle to put down roots won the award.
Nina Keck’s coverage of the National Guard members who said they were denied promotions and permanent positions at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield received the investigative reporting award.
Click here to listen to the award-winning entries »
And VPR’s comprehensive coverage of the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s exploration of Lake Champlain was honored in the series category. VPR’s project included several sound-rich series, the stories from Champlain’s diary, and a live broadcast from the Burlington waterfront.
In sports coverage, Steve Zind’s report on UVM’s women’s basketball and their fall to UConn in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament was the winner.
And VPR.net’s winning entry was represented in the competition by the main news page, the H1N1 flu page, the States of Marriage documentary page, the Hitting Home economic series page and the Champlain 400 project pages.
VPR’s entries are judged in the smaller markets for non-commercial and commercial radio throughout the New England states. VPR will receive six out of the 13 awards given this category at the awards ceremony in Newton, Mass., on April 16.
The RTDNA has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Murrow’s pursuit of excellence in journalism embodies the spirit of the awards that carry his name. Murrow Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the broadcast news profession.