News Releases

RTDNA Announces 2010 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners

CONTACT: Stacey Staniak, 202-467-5214, staceys@rtnda.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2010

WASHINGTON--The Radio Television Digital News Association today announced the 2010 regional winners of the Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence in electronic journalism.

RTDNA judges awarded 603 regional Edward R. Murrow Awards in 14 categories, including Overall Excellence, Breaking News, Investigative Reporting, and Website. The Murrow Awards reward the excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the electronic news profession.  

Overall entries and participating news organizations were both up for the 2010 Murrow Awards. For the first time, online news organizations were eligible to enter in any of the 14 categories; online news organizations were defined as organizations that should, as their principal function, disseminate news and information but are not internal parts of a radio or television station. 

"I'm excited to see not only increased entries in the awards this year from our traditional television and radio competitors, but also the winning entries from new media newsrooms able to win a regional Murrow Award for the very first time," said RTDNA Chairman Stacey Woelfel.

WTOP-FM, a large market radio station in Washington, won 12 Murrow awards, the most given to any news organization.  In the large market television category KARE-TV in Minneapolis led the way with nine Murrows.  KCLU-AM/FM in Thousand Oaks, Calif. and KNAU-FM in Flagstaff, Ariz. received seven Murrows each, the most Murrows awarded to a small market radio station.  WISC-TV in Madison, Wisc. won eight Murrows, the largest number of awards given to a small market television station.  Star Tribune in Minneapolis, an online news operation, won four Edward R. Murrow Awards. 

Many of the entries focused on communities grappling with the health care debate, state government issues, the gloomy economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.       

A complete list of winners, and the accompanying audio and video, is available at RTDNA.org

Regional winners automatically become eligible for the national awards competition, which will be judged in early June. The national Edward R. Murrow Awards will be presented on October 11 at the RTDNA Awards Dinner in New York.

RTDNA has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Murrow Awards since 1971. Radio, television and online news managers from markets across the country judged the entries in March.

RTDNA is the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. RTNDA represents local and network news professionals in broadcasting, cable and other digital media in more than 30 countries.