New England Public Radio’s newsroom picked up four PRNDI Awards from Public Radio News Directors Inc., an independent organization of public radio news directors. The awards were announced June 25 at the organization’s annual meeting in Saint Louis, Missouri.
New England Public Radio’s awards spanned a broad number of categories, from Best Multi-Media Presentation to Best News Feature. The field was crowded as always, with NEPR competing against public radio stations across the country with similarly-sized newsrooms of 4-7 full-time employees.
“There’s a common thread through these stories: the voices of real people directly impacted by the news. Immigrants — recent and distant, grandparents caring for their kids’ kids because of opioid abuse, homeowners on either side of a heated pipeline debate, and young doctors searching for their place in the healthcare industry,” said NEPR’s News Director, Sam Hudzik. “I’m proud of our reporters’ work and am grateful we’re able to so deeply explore these important issues.”
The following pieces won second place in their respective categories:
Words In Transit – Multi-Media Presentation
By: John Voci, Tema Silk, Cathleen O’Keefe, Peter Chilton and Beth Reynolds
An extensive multi-media oral history project, Words in Transit explores shared experiences among refugees, immigrants, and DREAMers through a collection of photographs and first-person narratives from 30 people from around the world, making their home in western New England.
View the Project
In Heroin Crisis, Grandparents Seek Allies Raising Grandchildren – News Feature
By: Jill Kaufman
The NEPR Newsroom has focused extensively on the opioid/heroin crisis in western Massachusetts. This story, from reporter Jill Kaufman, explores the growing role of grandparents in raising their grandchildren because their adult children are using heroin.
Listen here
Pipeline Road Trip – Series
By: Henry Epp
Reporter Henry Epp traveled the route of a proposed natural gas pipeline through rural areas of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, gathering public comment on a contentious local issue for this three-part series.
Listen here
The Path to Primary Care: Who Will Be The Next Generation Of Front-line Doctors? – Short Documentary
By: Karen Brown
For a full year, reporter Karen Brown followed a group of aspiring young doctors learning the ins and outs of primary care practice in Massachusetts hospitals, part of a program designed to train and inspire a new generation of primary care doctors, who are in short supply across the nation.
Listen here
NEPR’s newsroom covers stories from all corners of the station’s broadcast area, and is part of the newly formed New England News Consortium, a regional news collaborative that includes eight public media stations in New England. The NENC produces multimedia coverage focusing on the New England region’s energy usage, climate, transportation, infrastructure, as well as its people and immigration issues.