AZPM Receives Nine Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards

May 16, 2024
To: Campus Community
From: Arizona Public Media
Subject: AZPM Receives Nine Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards
Date: May 16, 2024

Arizona Public Media (AZPM) has received nine Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) announced on Wednesday. The Murrow Awards are the embodiment of the values, principles, and standards set forth by Edward R. Murrow, a journalism pioneer who set the standards for the highest quality of broadcast journalism.

Nine AZPM news stories received awards for excellence in various categories, the most awarded to any broadcaster in Arizona and the most to any public media broadcaster in the five-state region (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming). 

Of 11 Murrow Awards given to Arizona television stations, AZPM received five of them – more than any one television station in Arizona, and nearly as many as the rest of the state combined. AZPM tied with KJZZ in Phoenix for the most radio awards (four) in Arizona.

Visit azpm.org to explore the winning stories. They are:

Television:

  • Excellence in Innovation: "Arizona Illustrated Increasing Spanish Language Content" (Arizona Illustrated)
  • Investigative Reporting: "Don't Bring Guns to Mexico" (Liliana Soto, John DeSoto)
  • Sports Reporting: "Sirena Linton, Gymnast" (Ashland Johnson, Nate Huffman, Zach Harns)
  • Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: "Rio" (Cáit NíSíomón, Nate Huffman)
  • News Documentary: "Al & Hannah" (Cáit NíSíomón, Nate Huffman)

Radio:

  • Breaking News: "UA Safety Questioned" (Paola Rodriguez)
  • Innovation: "El Tour de Mayor" (Christopher Conover, Zac Ziegler)
  • Sound: "Sports is for Everyone" (Paola Rodriguez)
  • Investigative Reporting: "Cartels Make Billions on Human Smuggling" (Danyelle Khmara)

Of special note, recent graduate, Ashland Johnson (Sirena Linton, Gymnast) produced her story while she was a student with AZPM; she also served as the student representative to the AZPM Community Advisory Board this past year.

In 2023, AZPM received its third National Murrow Award in the category of Small Market Television News Documentary for Water Harvester: An Invitation to Abundance. AZPM received its second National Murrow Award in 2019 in the feature reporting category for Where Dreams Die. The radio news documentary Divided by Law won a National Murrow Award in 2016. Since 2016, AZPM has been honored with 32 Regional Murrow Awards for news stories focused on issues specific to the southwest region.

AZPM is part of Region 3 which includes Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Regional winners automatically move on to the national round of consideration, which also includes digital news organizations, networks, and student competitors. The National Murrow Awards will be announced this summer and presented at the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City in October.

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