WFPL Wins National, Regional, State Awards

The WFPL News team and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting have received several awards in the last week, earning honors on the national, regional and local stages.  

Nationally, Erica Peterson's series on black carbon,which utilized original air monitoring data, won the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi award for Public Service in Radio Journalism.

The SPJ says "the awards recognize the best in professional journalism," and the category "recognizes a radio news organization (station, network or group) that renders public service through extensive coverage of an issue facing the community it serves."

Regionally, KyCIR's R.G. Dunlop's investigation into the Indiana criminal justice system, The Man with Many Chances, won a regional Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio and Television Digital News Association.

From KyCIR:
Dunlop's reporting late last year revealed flaws in the Indiana criminal justice system that allowed longtime felon Richard Hooten to commit crime after crime with little intervention. Eventually, Hooten killed 17-year-old Tara Rose Willenborg in Clarksville, a crime to which he recently pleaded guilty. "All of us are extremely proud that R.G. has won this prestigious award," said Donovan Reynolds, president and general manager of Louisville Public Media, which operates 89.3 WFPL and KyCIR. "Given that this was his first radio production, the award is truly an extraordinary achievement."
And, in Indiana, the news team was named the Associated Press' Outstanding News Operation, on top of winning 13 total awards in various categories. This comes after WFPL won several awards in the Kentucky AP contest

The Indiana Awards are:

First Place:

Best Newscast Long-Form, "November 1, 2013" Public Affairs Program, "Should College Athletes Be Paid?" Jonathan Bastian Best Community Impact, "Hollowed Mountains, Hollowed Towns," Erica Peterson Best Spot News Reporting, "Maker's Mark to be Watered Down," Gabe Bullard Best Feature, "Carp Madness," Erica Peterson Best Continuous Coverage of a Single Event, "University of Louisville Athletic Success," Rick Howlett Best General News, "A Black Jockey in the Kentucky Derby, Once Again," Gabe Bullard Best News Series, "Black Carbon in the Ohio River Valley," Erica Peterson

Second Place:

Best Use of Radio Sound: "The Cost of Haunted Houses," Devin Katayama Bets Website: WFPL.org Best Community Impact: "Parents Barred from Volunteering in Schools," Devin Katayama Best Enterprise Story: "The Man with Many Chances," R.G. Dunlop Best News Series: "Food and Drink Week," Staff