WUNC reporter Leoneda Inge received the Journalist of Distinction Award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).
The award goes to journalists who provide “breadth and depth in coverage of a topic or topics of significance to people in the African diaspora,” according to NABJ.
Inge is WUNC's race and southern culture reporter. She is the first public radio journalist in the South to hold such a position, which was created to explore modern and historical constructs to tell stories of poverty and wealth, health and food culture, education and racial identity.
"Leoneda Inge is an exceptional journalist who has created insightful, award-winning stories that examine the American experience in all its constructs. She is committed to storytelling that reflects the issues and inspirations in the black community," NABJ President Sarah Glover said. "Her work is not only credible, but also sensitive and compelling. She brings the audience into the story and engages them with an approach that educates and enlightens."
Inge's most recent work includes the series, "Perils and Promise," an in-depth series focused on the challenges of rural education in Vance County, and a series on what area community leaders and residents are doing to balance "peace and pride" in their neighborhoods.
Inge has also produced reports on "Organic Tobacco" and "Rebuilding Slave Cabins," and she traveled to Tokyo, Japan to track the importance of North Carolina's pork industry.
She received a Master's degree from Columbia University, where she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economics. In 2014, Inge traveled to Berlin, Brussels and Prague as a German/American Journalist Exchange Fellow with the RIAS Berlin Commission/RTDNF.
