TYSONS, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced that its stations received ten 2024 National Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence in broadcast journalism, more than any other station group. KARE was recognized for Overall Excellence, Large Market Television, marking a third consecutive year a TEGNA station has received this honor. The Edward R. Murrow Awards are sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and honor outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism.
“Our dedication to serving and uplifting our communities inspires our stations and journalists daily to create stories that make a difference,” said Lynn Beall, EVP and COO of media operations, TEGNA. “Congratulations to our stations and people for this well-deserved recognition.”
The prestigious Murrow Awards “recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community.”
TEGNA stations’ 2024 National Edward R. Murrow Award recipients are:
KARE (Minneapolis, Minnesota): Overall Excellence, Large Market Television. This is the fourth National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence for KARE, which previously received this honor in 1997, 2001 and 2004. The KARE news team has a commitment to strong storytelling, memorable photojournalism, community-focused reporting and investigations with impact. The commitment to quality enterprise journalism extends across KARE’s linear and digital platforms, with a focus on context and depth.
KARE (Minneapolis, Minnesota): Excellence in Writing, Large Market Television recognizing Boyd Huppert. This is Huppert’s 26th career Edward R. Murrow Award. Boyd’s storytelling style sets the standard for local journalism and his stories offer hope by shining a light on the best of humanity. In his “Land of 10,000 Stories” franchise, Boyd sums up his mission saying, “by bringing goodness into all our homes, I believe you inspire all of us to be just a little kinder and better.”
KARE (Minneapolis, Minnesota): Excellence in Video, Large Market Television for photojournalists Chad Nelson and Mitchell Yehl for “Bitter Harvest.” Featured in Boyd Huppert’s "Land of 10,000 Stories” franchise, the story is a poignant tale of a Wisconsin farm family wrestling with loss. Farmer Brian Webster died by suicide about a month before his family reached out to Boyd. They wanted to share their story, to draw attention to an often-overlooked issue – mental health struggles in rural communities. Following guidelines for coverage of suicides published by the World Health Organization, Poynter Institute and others, the story was told with sensitivity, care, emotion and memorable video.
KHOU (Houston, Texas): Continuing Coverage, Large Market Television for “Coffee City Police.” The KHOU investigative team of Jeremy Rogalski, Jennifer Cobb and John Gibson exposed how a tiny Texas town became a magnet for troubled cops. Coffee City had 50 officers for a population of 250, most with dubious pasts and hired by a chief with his own legal troubles. Two weeks after KHOU’s first story aired, the Coffee City Police Department was shut down, and ultimately seven police officers were indicted, including the chief himself. The ongoing investigative series has been viewed more than seven million times on the KHOU YouTube page.
KHOU (Houston, Texas): Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Large Market Television for “Juneteenth 2023 The Freedom to Learn.” A team of KHOU journalists, led by the station’s main anchors Mia Gradney and Len Cannon explore Juneteenth through the lens of education. The hour-long documentary details opportunities denied to African Americans through violence and intimidation, leading to the creation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “Juneteenth 2023 The Freedom to Learn” aims to educate viewers on diversity, racial injustice, and inequality in education.
NEWS CENTER Maine (Portland and Bangor, Maine): Breaking News, Small Market Television for “Lewiston Mass Shooting.” A mass shooting with two crime scenes, 18 dead, 13 more in the hospital, followed by a 48-hour manhunt for the killer, the state of Maine was paralyzed with fear and on lockdown in their homes. NEWS CENTER Maine was the calm in a terrifying storm for a state during its darkest, most painful hours. The entire news team delivered accurate, detailed information around the clock, in an empathetic, sobering but unsensational manner, holding authorities accountable while figuratively holding the hands of their neighbors watching on TV and online.
WBNS (Columbus, Ohio): Breaking News, Large Market Television for “Charter Bus Crash.” A charter bus filled with high school students and chaperones was involved in a tragic accident on a local highway. Three students on the bus and three adults were killed in the five-vehicle accident. Throughout the day, WBNS’s continuous coverage on all platforms evolved as witnesses explained what happened. WBNS told stories of first responders who heroically rushed to the scene and pulled students from the charter bus which was on fire, asked tough questions to hold the powerful accountable, and produced profiles to honor the victims to help the community heal from this tragic event.
KSDK (St. Louis, Missouri): Sports Reporting, Large Market Television for reporter/anchor Mike Bush and photojournalist Tom Stasiak on their story “Cody’s Wish,” which highlights the deep bond between Cody, a teenage boy with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, and a horse with the name of Cody’s Wish. The relationship symbolizes the pair's victory not just on the horse track but a triumph of spirit.
WMAZ (Macon, Georgia): Excellence in Innovation, Small Market Television for “More than a Number: Giving a Face to the Victim and a Voice to the Family.” Inspired by personal tragedy, WMAZ’s digital content manager Justin Baxley pioneered a new approach to covering violent crime. His father was murdered in Macon, but Justin turned his ongoing pain into purpose through conceptualizing “More than a Number." The ongoing project aims to ease the pressure on reporters to approach grieving families and prioritizes compassion over deadlines. It offers a digital resource guide to victims’ families to share their stories when they are willing and ready. Since the August 2023 launch, dozens of families trusted WMAZ journalists to share their loved one’s life through storytelling that goes beyond the headlines, and the project continues to grow. Newsrooms across several TEGNA stations adopted “More than a Number” to give a face to crime victims and a voice to their families in communities across the country.
WTIC (Hartford, Connecticut): Excellence in Innovation, Large Market Television for Innovation in Weather Storytelling. Meteorologists Rachel Frank, Ryan Breton, and Rachel Piscitelli partnered with the TEGNA Design Tank to use augmented reality graphics to explain how a changing climate would impact the upcoming winter and prepare their community ahead of a severe weather season. FOX61 is committed to finding an innovative and fresh approach to sharing the science beyond the forecast.
For 2024, TEGNA stations were also honored with 73 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. Stations received six Overall Excellence, seven Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and five Innovation awards, more honors in these categories than any other local broadcast station group.
About TEGNA
TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) is an innovative media company that serves the greater good of our communities. Across platforms, TEGNA tells empowering stories, conducts impactful investigations and delivers innovative marketing solutions. With 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, TEGNA is the largest owner of top 4 network affiliates in the top 25 markets among independent station groups, reaching approximately 39 percent of all television households nationwide. TEGNA also owns leading multicast networks True Crime Network and Quest. TEGNA offers innovative solutions to help businesses reach consumers across television, digital and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including Premion, TEGNA’s OTT advertising service. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.
