Vermont Public Radio has received the award for overall excellence and won five other 2019 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced today.
The winning entries included a podcast about an averted school shooting (JOLTED), an investigative series on three towns that issue a quarter of Vermont’s traffic fines, and a news documentary covering a Utah developer's attempt to build a utopian community in rural Vermont.
VPR also was recognized for its multimedia reporting and a series about Vermonters facing mental health issues, They Are Us, produced by Erica Heilman.
"We've been pushing ourselves to tell stories in creative, digitally smart ways that connect with listeners," said VPR News Director Sarah Ashworth. "It's gratifying to see those efforts recognized in the innovation award for our JOLTED series and in the documentary category for Brave Little State, our listener-driven journalism project.
“At the same time, we remain committed to deeply reported investigative work, like our series on traffic fines in Vermont towns," Ashworth said.
“I am most proud of winning the Overall Excellence award,” said VPR President and CEO Scott Finn. “This award requires every part of our organization to be excellent, from the people who raise the money, to the reporters who make the stories, to the engineers and technology staff who make it sound and look great.”
The winning coverage includes:
Investigative Reporting: Watch Your Speed: These Three Towns Issue A Quarter of Vermont's Traffic Fines
News Documentary: 4 Vermont Towns vs. 1 Utah Developer: What Happened With NewVistas
Excellence in Innovation: JOLTED
News Series: They Are Us
The annual awards are sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association, the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. Regional Murrow Awards are presented to small and large radio, television and digital outlets based in 14 geographic regions across the U.S. VPR is in Region 10, encompassing Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Regional winners are automatically considered for awards in the National Edward R. Murrow Awards competition, which will be announced later this year.
