INDIANAPOLIS — The Radio Television Digital News Association honored WTHR with three regional Edward R. Murrow Awards Thursday. 13News received top honors in the Feature Reporting, Continuing Coverage and Excellence in Video categories.
The feature reporting award recognizes one of the stories from Chuck's Big Adventure in Michigan. Chuck Lofton visited the world-renowned Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School to get a peek at how they were training a new batch of Santas amid a pandemic. Lofton worked with photojournalist Steve Rhodes and special projects producer Megan Simpson.
Rhodes also won recognition for excellence in video for his photography and editing of that story.
The 13 Investigates team won top honors for continuing coverage of the pandemic. The award recognizes WTHR's efforts to push for answers for viewers during the pandemic related to a number of topics, including nursing home infections, having adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, government transparency, unemployment insurance and mask effectiveness. Reporters Bob Segall, Sandra Chapman, Jennie Runevitch and Rich Van Wyk worked with photojournalists Josh Blankenship, Bill Ditton, Steve Rhodes, and Ryan Thedwall, and investigative producers Cyndee Hebert and Susan Batt on these stories.
“I am so proud of the entire WTHR team and their unwavering commitment to great storytelling and outstanding journalism,” said Michael Brouder, WTHR’s President and General Manager. “Despite the challenges over the past year, WTHR’s drive for excellence continues to shine through."
Since 1971, RTDNA has honored outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards. The organization says, "Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Murrow set as a standard for the profession of electronic journalism."
"Local journalists across the country guided Americans through a pandemic, ongoing racial reckoning and a fraught election cycle, despite facing unprecedented operational challenges and an astonishing number of physical attacks during 2020," said Dan Shelley, RTDNA executive director and chief operating officer. "The persistence of the regional Murrow Award winners we recognize today is a testament to these journalists’ commitment to their First Amendment duty."
WTHR is the only Indianapolis station to be honored with a regional Murrow Award this year.
Click here for a list of regional winners from across the country.
