Awards
TO PEOPLE IN PUBLIC MEDIA
PRNDI LEO C. LEE AWARD
Next Gen founder Doug Mitchell was honored for pubradio journalism training.
Public Radio News Directors Inc. presented its Leo C. Lee Award to former NPR producer Doug Mitchell. The award, which honors distinguished contributions to public radio journalism, recognized Mitchell's work to "encourage young people — and particularly young people of color — to get into public radio," PRNDI said on its website.
Mitchell, who left NPR in layoffs announced in December, is a 20-year veteran of NPR News who worked for more than a decade to establish a public radio journalism program for young people. Through Next Generation Radio, as the training program was called, "Doug did what a trainer is supposed to do — encapsulate the best values of the organization and transmit them intact to a new generation," wrote former NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin in a blog posting about the loss of present and future talent with Mitchell's exit. "Using the metaphor of these days, he was a Moses to their Joshua."
Mitchell explained his motivation in creating the program on Transom: "[F]or 15 of my 21.5 years at NPR, my version of teaching was giving back. That’s an old-school term meaning that at one point in my life someone helped me, and after a period of time, I 'gave it back' to someone else who needed help."
The PRNDI award is named for the late Leo C. Lee, a newspaperman who became a western bureau chief for NPR and later founded Western States Public Radio. Lee also established a training program to prepare young journalists, including women and minorities, for careers in public radio. Previous award recipients include former NPR News chief Bill Buzenberg, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, longtime Marketplace Executive Producer Jim Russell, NPR investigative reporter Daniel Zwerdling, and producers David Isay and Ira Glass.
PRNDI AWARDS
WMUB and WBEZ topped the Public Radio News Directors competition.
Ohio’s WMUB, the university station that was converted into a repeater of Cincinnati Public Radio two months ago, won five first-place awards in Public Radio News Directors Inc. 2009 Awards. Chicago’s WBEZ, which competed in a different division, also topped five categories in the annual competition among public radio journalists.
The awards, presented during the concluding session of the PRNDI annual conference in Portland, Ore., recognized work broadcast in 2008. Twenty-six stations competing in four different divisions brought home first-place trophies.
WMUB-FM provided regional news coverage in a rural corner of southwestern Ohio, broadcasting from the Oxford campus of Miami University until March, when the university turned its operations over to Cincinnati Public Radio. Its now disbanded news staff received first-place awards in the categories of best writing, breaking news, commentary, soft feature and spot news. The five trophies put it ahead of all competitors in PRNDI’s division C, for stations with one or two news staff.
Chicago’s WBEZ, which competed in division A for stations with five or more news staffers, won for best writing, breaking news, documentary, enterprise/investigative reporting and news feature.
Wyoming Public Radio and WBHM in Birmingham, Ala., both topped division B, each taking three awards in the competition among stations with three or four staff journalists. In division D, for student journalists, New York’s WFUV received two trophies. A complete list of winners in all four divisions is here.
LOS ANGELES PRESS CLUB
KPCC led pubcasters in the L.A. Press Club competition.
KPCC’s Frank Stoltze was named radio journalist of the year and Brian Watt took the trophy for best broadcast journalist covering business and financial news.
The L.A. Press Club Awards, presented June 14, honor the best work of journalists throughout Southern California in 2008.
KCET in Los Angeles won three of the five awards presented for television news coverage and KCRW in Santa Monica earned distinction for political coverage by Warren Olney on To the Point and in two radio categories
Judges in the competition saluted KPCC’s Stoltze as a “solid, professional radio reporter” with “great public radio delivery and pacing.” They also lauded his “very good grasp” of the subject he was reporting on and use of natural sound.
Use of ambient sound also helped distinguish Brian Watt's business reporting for KPCC, according to judges, who also cited his revealing interviews and use of strong writing to “tell interesting and compelling stories.
KCRW’s Warren Olney, honored for best political coverage in broadcast news, was lauded for a conversational style that, “coupled with engaging topics and deft interviewing skills” make To the Point interesting “even for the politically unaware.”
KPCC won in the following categories for radio reporting:
Breaking news coverage in “Metrolink Crash” by Shirley Jahad, Frank Stoltze, and Kitty Felde.
Feature reporting, “Her Three Sons” by Patricia Nazario.
Investigative/series reporting, “Ashes of Oakridge” by Molly Peterson, Frank Stoltze, Patricia Nazario, Queena Kim and Adolfo Guzman-Lopez.
Sports coverage, “Olympic Badminton” by Susan Valot.
Public affairs coverage, “Tom Bradley” by John Rabe, Queena Kim, Frank Stolze, Marc Haefele, Kitty Felde, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez and Rico Gagliano.
KCRW won took first-place awards in the radio division: for arts/entertainment Reviews/criticism by Rob Long in “Martini Shot”; and for the entertainment feature
“Hollywood Magic” by Kim Masters.
Brett Marcus received sole or shared credit for all three winning entries for KCET. His stories topped the television news categories for feature reporting (on SoCal Connected, "Foreclosure Alley”) and documentary (“Inside Locke High”). KCET’s breaking news coverage in SoCal Connected, “After the Burn” was produced and reported by Marcus with Justin Schmidt, Linda Burns and Val Zavala.
WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION
NPR’s David Greene won a reporting prize from the White House Correspondents Association.
The association gave Greene the Merriman Smith Award for broadcast journalism at its May 8 dinner in Washington. Greene covered the White House during the second term of George W. Bush and was a key member of the NPR team reporting on the 2008 presidential elections.
Greene was cited for his coverage a March 2008 speech by then-Sen. Barack Obama on race and politics. Obama delivered the speech at a major turning point in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination when he distanced himself from the racially divisive rhetoric of his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
WHCA judges declared Greene’s report for NPR "masterfully" set up the problems created for the Obama campaign by the preacher’s remarks, and they praised Greene for going beyond the sound bites delivered in the speech. “He dug deeper," said the judges. "By showing the complexity of the candidate's beliefs on race—and by quickly interviewing other people of faith—Greene gave his audience a more textured view of an important moment in American politics."
WHITE HOUSE NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION
A radio network, NPR, wins big in a major photojournalism competition.
Five first-place “Eyes of History Awards,” presented May 30 by the association of photojournalists covering Washington newsmakers, recognized the NPR’s small and relatively new team of news photographers.
A multimedia team of journalists won for the photo and audio slideshow Crafting China's Future Champions. It took top recognition in the multimedia category for best use of photography and audio (narration). Credits cited Andrea Rane, Coburn Dukehart and Jessica Wanke, producers; Jack Zahora, audio producer; Louisa Lim, reporter; Ariana Lindquist, photographer; and Meghan Collins Sullivan and Keith Jenkins, supervising producers.
Three of NPR’s first-place awards were credited to John Poole. His photography for “A Good Throw,” a radio report on a shot-putter for the U.S. 2008 summer Olympics team, won in the categories of audio and video editing—sports. Poole’s photography accompanying the web-only NPR Music piece, Project Song: Nellie McKay won for long-form videoediting.
Top recognition for political “picture story” in still photographs went to David Gilkey for
A Civil Rights Activist Votes in Birmingham.
Rundowns of NPR’s “Eyes of History” winners, including second and third place winners, are postedin this online gallery and this press release.
BOSTON/NEW ENGLAND EMMYS
Connecticut Public TV was the big winner at the New England regional Emmys May 30 in Boston.
CPTV garnered eight statuettes, for everything from musical composition to post-production work. Regional Emmys also were presented to Boston’s WGBH-TV, Vermont Public Television and Rhode Island PBS, and New Hampshire Public TV shared credit for one of CPTV’s winning programs
Eating CT, a series exploring restaurants throughout the state, brought in two regional Emmys for CPTV. It earned top recognition among magazine programs and specials and received a crafts Emmy for program editing. Cited were: Jason Hawkins, host/writer/producer; David Kinney, director of photography; Winfried Quast, editor/director of post production; Neal Carter, editor. CPTV coproduces the series with DsignDigital.
Additional CPTV winners, by category, are: Health/Science Program: “My First Breath,” James Whitsett, e.p.; Alissa Wood, director/writer/producer; Kevin Jeffko, Avid online editor; Jim Chapdelaine, composer. Co-produced with Meridian Lights.
Education/Schools Program: “Today's Children in Tomorrow's World.” Cathy Jackman, producer/post-producer; Jim Chapdelaine, composer; Paul Apito, animator.
Informational/Instructional Program: “Parents and Teens Behind the Wheel.” Jay Whitsett, e.p.; Jennifer Boyd, creator/co-producer; Catherine Sager, co-producer; Cathy Jackman, co-producer/editor; Jim Chapdelaine, composer.
Documentary Program: “Alzheimer's Disease: Facing the Facts.” Glenn Orkin, director/writer; Larry Rifkin, e.p. Co-produced with Motion Inc.
Musical Composition/Arrangement: A.J. Gundell, composer/arranger.
Director Post-production: Voices in Conflict. Bonnie Dickinson, director; A.J. Gundell, director, postproduction; John Ruane, director, postproduction. CPTV.
In addition, Roadside Stories, "Old Volks Home," tied for the Emmy for best arts/entertainment program. Credits: Bob Wilson, host/producer; Mark W. Ciesinski, editor/producer. Co-producing entities: New Hampshire Public TV, P-Point Productions, TimeCode Editing.
WGBH received the Emmy for arts reporting with “Light Paintings,” reported by Jared Bowen for Greater Boston, and its entry “Bi-Racial Hair” by Lisa Russell, tied for top recognition in the category of advanced media interactivity. The latter is a co-production with the National Black Programming Consortium.
Additional public TV winners, by category: Rhode Island PBS and Megastar Productions Inc., in the societal concerns category for “The Impact of Your Choice: Underage Drinking and Reckless Driving,” Deborah A. Hoch, producer; and Vermont Public Television’s Victor A. Guadagno in advanced media writer/producer for Emerging Science.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EMMYS
KQED and KTEH won seven Northern California regional Emmys.
The awards are presented by the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. KCSM in San Mateo also took a statuette.
KQED’s winners topped these program categories:
Informational/instructional program or special: State of Thirst: California's Water Future, presented by the multimedia series Quest; Josh Rosen, series producer; Christopher J. Bauer, Amy Miller, Gabriela V. Quiros, producers.
Interview/discussion program or special: Check, Please! Bay Area – Show #301; Tina Salter, series producer; Carol Gancia, June Messina Ouellette, associate producers; Katherine Russell, director; Leslie J. Sbrocco, host; Aaron Drury, series editor.
Historic/cultural program feature or segment: Spark: “San Francisco Opera – The Bonesetter's Daughter”; Monica Lam, Fawn Ring, segment producers.
Public/current/community affairs program or special: Global Focus V - The New Environmentalists; Mill Valley Film Group; John Antonelli, Tom Dusebery, Will Parrinello, producer-directors.
In addition, a crafts Emmy for graphic arts/graphics and animation in a program went to Charlie Canfield, animator for A Span in Time from KQED and David L. Brown Productions.
Bolinao 52, a KTEH documentary produced and directed by Duc H. Nguyen won two Emmys: for best documentary and for musical composition/arrangement by Mark G. Izu. The program was co-produced with Rhimp Productions, Center for Asian American Media, ITVS.
San Mateo’s KCSM received the Emmy for historic/cultural program or special with Women of Tibet: A Quiet Revolution; Rosemary Rawcliffe, producer-director for Frame of Mind Films.
BANFF AWARDS
The Frontline global-warming doc “Heat” was a Banff Award winner among environmental programs.
The film, produced in partnership with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.), probes how major corporations and governments are responding to the increasingly serious challenge of climate change.
The Banff World Television Awards, nicknamed the Rockies, were presented at the 30th awards festival June 7-10 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Broadcasters, producers, writers, directors, distributors and industry executives from more than 25 countries attended. Some 130 programs from more than 30 nations were chosen as finalists in 23 program categories. The nonprofit festival is produced by Achilles Media Ltd., an international events management company serving TV and digital media.
CHESAPEAKE REGIONAL EMMYS
Maryland Public Television scored four regional Emmys and WETA three at the June 6 National Capital/Chesapeake Bay Chapter awards.
The highlight of the event at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington was a surprise appearance by Oprah Winfrey, lauding longtime friend and former WJZ co-host Richard Sher. The Baltimore newsman received the Ted Yates Award, named for a Washington correspondent killed during the Six Day War.
MPT’s Robert Heck won the Emmy for best program host/moderator with his performance in “Bob the Vid Tech: The Mystery of the Missing Pizza,” a show that took the statuette for best teen/youth/children’s program/special.
Credited for the Emmy were Frank Batavick, producer; Donfred Napoleon, segment producer; Adam Oberfeld, segment producer; and Marilyn Phillips, coordinating producer.
“Eatin’ Crabs Chesapeake Style,” produced and directed by MPT’s Jeff Krulik with Jonathan Slade, producer/ writer/editor, earned top recognition in the category Chesapeake heritage. A craft Emmy for studio lighting went to Tracy Gaspari and Harry Vaughn for their collaboration on “ArtWorks: Manuel Barrueco Special.”
WETA’s winners included installments of WETA All Access that tied for the topical documentary Emmy: “Washington National Cathedral,” Jennifer Fetsch, producer; and “NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,” Laurie McGuckin, producer. The National Cathedral doc also won a crafts Emmy for non-news photography by Edward Lee. Jacqueline Todt is e.p. of WETA All Access.
SPJ MARK OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS
The University of Florida’s PBS station in Gainesville won two national Society of Professional Journalists awards.
WUFT, part of the university’s College of Journalism and Communications, was honored with SPJ’s Television Newscast award. Two students, junior Miles Doran and senior Patrick Fleming, won the Television Breaking News Reporting award for their coverage of Tropical Storm Fay.
“At the drop of a hat they traveled 75 miles to report the storm’s landfall in St. Augustine,” WUFT-TV News Director Mark Leeps said in a statement.
Doran and Fleming will receive their award Aug. 28 at the 2009 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference in Indianapolis.
Compiled by Karen Everhart, Dru Sefton and colleagues. Send award announcements (complete lists, please, not a single winner) to
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Web page posted June 29, 2009
Copyright 2009 by Current LLC
