Vermont Public Radio has won five 2020 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for its journalism in 2019, the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) announced today. The winning entries included two episodes of VPR’s people-powered journalism project Brave Little State, as well as collaborations with Vermont PBS and Seven Days.
"We are so honored to be recognized by the RTDNA for the quality of our journalism,” said Sarah Ashworth, vice president of news. “The awards this year highlight the breadth of our work, as well as our work with partners. As we’ve all adapted to new ways of working as of late, these awards remind us of our mission and drive to produce the best journalism we can for our community."
The winning coverage includes:
- Excellence in Sound: Legislation vs. Investigation: How Is Rep. Peter Welch Balancing His Work? (Brave Little State)
- News Documentary: How Is Climate Change Affecting Vermont Right Now? (Brave Little State)
- Newscast: VPR Newscast for May 31, 2019, 5:04 p.m.
- Investigative Reporting: Worse for Care, a joint investigation by Vermont Public Radio and Seven Days into assisted living and residential care homes for the elderly. In addition to publishing stories over four weeks, the project launched the Vermont Elder Care Navigator, a searchable database of reported citations and complaints for Vermont residential care homes and assisted living residences.
- Excellence in Innovation: This Land: The Changing Story Of Rural Vermont, a unique and collaborative project with Vermont PBS intended to empower the people of Vermont to analyze and to improve the future of rural life. At the center of the project was a public opinion rural life survey, cross-platform news and feature reporting, a podcast, visual and audio elements and a community storytelling event.
The Radio Television Digital News Association is the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. Selected from a record of more than five thousand entries, more than 750 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards represent more than 350 local radio, television and digital news 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.
