West Virginia Public Broadcasting wins five Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards

For Immediate Release

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Public Broadcasting newsroom has won five Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced today.

The winning stories by the WVPB news team now advance to compete for a National Murrow Award, which is among the most respected journalism awards in the world. They recognize stories that put public interest above all else, provide a catalyst for public discussion and adhere to a code of ethics.

WVPB regional winners include: “Wendy Crites: Struggle for Sobriety” for Excellence in Video; “California Dreams… and Realities – Mark Combs’ Struggle to Stay” for Excellence in Writing; “Paradise Cost: Coal, Natural Gas, and the True Price of Power” for Hard News; “Vietnam: West Virginians Remember” for News Documentary and “Grandparents Raising Grandkids in the Wake of the Opioid Crisis” for News Series.

  Jesse Wright, WVPB news director, said he’s proud of his team.

“The work we do in the WVPB newsroom is truly a team effort and I couldn’t be prouder of our staff for these awards,” Wright said. “It’s satisfying to be recognized for work on long-term, resource-intensive projects like the grandparent series and Struggle to Stay. We can’t do what we do in the newsroom without the help and support of everyone at WVPB, so I truly feel that awards like these belong to the entire organization.”

WVPB competes in the Small Market Radio division in Region 8, which includes Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. The national winners will be announced in June.

Chuck Roberts, interim executive director, congratulated the news team for being consistently recognized for their quality reporting.

“We take pride in the work Jesse Wright, the news team and producers are doing and to have a spotlight on them from such a prestigious organization is always welcomed,” Roberts said. “Thank you and congratulations to Glynis Board, Kara Lofton, Suzanne Higgins, and Aaron Shackelford for your hard work and for continuing to tell West Virginia’s story at such a high level.”

The Radio Television Digital News Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Murrow himself set as a standard for the profession of electronic journalism. Awards are presented to news organizations and not individuals.