WUNC has won four 2014 Edward R. Murrow awards, including the coveted "Overall Excellence" award for large market radio stations in our region (which includes KY, NC, SC, TN, & WV). It's the fourth year in a row that the station has taken home top honors. The prizes are awarded by the Radio Television Digital News Association.
Three individual stories received recognition, two reported by Dave DeWitt and one by Leoneda Inge.
We've collected the award winning entries here. They are worth a listen - our colleagues have deemed these stories among the most compelling in the region.
Dave DeWitt was honored for his writing for radio for a story about how the NC General Assembly was looking to change how some local school board members are elected. "Being on a school board is a little like being the head chef at the local Applebee’s," Dave's story begins. "You don’t get to choose the ingredients and it’s not your recipe, but if someone doesn’t like the Bourbon Street Steak, you’re going to hear about it."
Listen to the story here:
Dave DeWitt was also honored for Investigative Reporting for a story entitled "The Tipping Point: Arapahoe Charter, Pamlico Schools, And ‘Choice’ In Rural NC."
This is a story about choice. And it starts in the lunch line at Arapahoe Charter School in Pamlico County when students choose between pizza and french fries. And while that choice may seem easy to make, the choice to offer it is a little more complicated. Charter schools aren’t required to offer meals, even to kids who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. But Arapahoe does – and sixty percent of the students here qualify. Read the full story
Leoneda Inge was honored for her use of sound in the story entitled "Durham School of the Arts Joins Fisk Jubilee Singers." The Fisk Jubilee Singers are known world-wide for their flawless voices and performance of Negro Spirituals. Leoneda documented the Singer's tour through southern high schools to "help young voices hone and preserve the songs that have inspired people of all cultures." At The Durham School of the Arts, the story took a dramatic turn as a young singer faints. The music is gorgeous.
