Texas Public Radio (TPR), the San Antonio-based NPR station, has been recognized by the LA Press Club with its Diversity in the Entertainment Industry radio/podcast award for Nathan Cone's piece How Duke Ellington stretched the boundaries of jazz and classical.
This is a first time recognition for TPR, which is dedicated to its Arts & Culture programming in San Antonio that has a growing audience nationwide.
Diversity in the Entertainment Industry – radio/podcast: @TPRCinema Nathan Cone, Texas Public Radio, “How Duke Ellington stretched the boundaries of jazz and classical” https://t.co/4E01uL92Ie
— LA Press Club (@LAPressClub) December 4, 2023
TPR wins back-to-back National Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence
TPR has been recognized with the 2023 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Large Market Radio. This is the second year in a row TPR's newsroom has earned the top honor.
TPR's Jack Morgan also won a 2023 Murrow for Excellence in Sound for his story on San Antonio's beloved Mariachi Extravaganza.
The Murrow Awards, presented by RTDNA, are among the most prestigious in broadcast journalism. They strive to highlight journalism today that embodies the excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the broadcast news profession.
The work of the TPR newsroom has also been commended with awards from the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Alliance for Women in Media, the Texas Veterans Commission, the Press Club of Atlantic City, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the National Association of Social Workers, the Education Writers Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Public Media Journalists Association.
TPR wins three awards from The Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA)
TPR's Morning Edition, hosted by Norma Martinez and produced by Marian Navarro, was recognized as having the nation's top newscast among large market radio stations.
TPR's Paul Flahive won second place for documentary for his long-form story from his Justice Ignored series.
TPR's David Martin Davies was recognized with second place for commentary: We were all damaged by Uvalde.
PMJA is an association representing public media journalists across the United States. Its mission is to support, empower and advocate for journalists working in public media.
Education Writers Association (EWA) Winner for Eddie Prize for Innovation
The EWA has named Camille Phillips as the winner of its Eddie Prize for her work on TPR’s Enduring Gap Podcast.
It is widely known that low-income students face increased barriers to completing a degree, but research on the ways poverty and finances intersect with the Latino experience is harder to find, even though Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and one of the fastest growing populations. Less than 20% of Latino adults have a bachelor’s degree.
The goal of this limited-series podcast was to center student voices as the experts of their own life experiences while also helping to fill a void on research into the barriers keeping more Latino students from completing degrees. A student survey funded with the help of an EWA Reporting Fellowship enabled Camille Phillips to do both.
Comments From the Judges:
“What made this piece grip me was the centering of those who are most affected – college students in the system now – and built out from there with educators, government officials and academic experts of all backgrounds who have studied this issue. I am so exhausted with pieces who talk down to people of color, discuss Latinos like some type of confusing and lesser-than group of people and center the findings and facts in a clinical way. You cannot listen to this and not relate if you ever had any struggle.”
“Fantastic use of research — I love that the journalist had a question, found there was no research on it, and worked with professionals to conduct a robust survey. This podcast is a great format to understand the data through the lens of students, while explaining statistics we always hear as one-liners, with context and nuance.”
Murrow Awards
Phillips also garnered two of the prestigious regional Murrow awards. She was honored for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, also for The Enduring Gap podcast.
Phillips’s second regional Murrow award was for her series about teacher burnout in San Antonio, Your Teachers Are Not Okay.
The award for Excellence in Use of Sound went to TPR’s Arts and Culture Reporter Jack Morgan for his story on San Antonio’s Mariachi Extravaganza, dubbed the “Super Bowl” of Mariachi competitions. This story was also recognized with the national Murrow for Excellence in Sound.
The TPR newsroom was honored for Overall Excellence in Radio Broadcasting and for its collaborative reporting with The Texas Newsroom (TTN) for Continuing Coverage of the Robb Elementary School Shooting and a statewide Latino voter engagement project ahead of the 2022 election.
Six regional Edward R. Murrow Awards was a record for the TPR Newsroom. The station went on to win the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence for a second year in a row, besting stations in markets such as New York and Los Angeles.
Kudos from the Texas Association of Broadcasters (TAB)
In addition to the award for Overall Excellence, TPR took home six awards from the TAB.
David Martin Davies and Yvette Benavides won for Public Affairs for their audio-documentary Diagnosis Diabetes. This program, featured on Texas Matters, required months of reporting and was supported by the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
Davies was also recognized for General Assignment Reporting for his story about hydrogen sulfide coming from West Texas oil fields, Texas Railroad Commission is Failing to Regulate Deadly H2S 'Sour' Gas.
TPR's Accountability Reporter Paul Flahive was recognized for Investigative Reporting for his series Justice Ignored, which revealed how badly the state of Texas is failing victims of sex trafficking, through the life and death of Shawna Rogers.
Joey Palacios was honored for his work on two of the most difficult stories ever covered by TPR. Palacios was recognized for Use of Sound for his story about the first Día de los Muertos in Uvalde following the Robb Elementary School Shooting, and also for his breaking news coverage of a horrific incident that saw 53 migrants suffocate to death in the back of a tractor trailer in San Antonio.
First Amendment Awards from Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)
The SPJ Fort Worth Chapter honored Flahive with First Place for Defending the Disadvantaged for his Justice Ignored series.
Flahive also won first place for his story State Sent Financial Aid to 1.1 Million Unemployed Texans. Now It Wants That Money Back.
Davies was a finalist for investigative reporting for his podcast The Ghost of Frank J. Robinson.
Davies was also a finalist for General News for his story ‘Dead Suspect Loophole’ Invoked to Keep Uvalde Shooting Records Secret.
Phillips Extends Winning Record with the Alliance for Women in Media
Phillips was recognized with a Gracie Award for her community journalism in Uvalde, the station's third Gracie Award in as many years.
Texas Veterans Commission 2023 Excellence in Media Award
TPR's Military and Veterans Issues Reporter Carson Frame was named as a finalist for her story For Some Military Veterans in Uvalde, the School Shooting Has Rekindled Memories of the Battlefield.
National Headliner Awards recognizes TPR newscasts and podcasts
The National Headliner Awards are given by the Press Club of Atlantic City, which describes the competition as “one of the oldest and largest annual contests in the country recognizing journalistic merit.”
TPR was honored to be a finalist for two 2023 National Headliner Awards.
Norma Martinez and Marian Navarro were recognized for their Morning Edition newscast, represented by their work on May 25, 2022.
TPR's Twenty-Four Seven Podcast hosted by Kitty Eisele was a finalist in the information podcast category.
International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) recognizes TPR's Twenty-Four Seven podcast
TPR's Twenty-Four Seven podcast was also honored by the Webby Awards as a finalist for best health and wellness podcast.
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the IADAS, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Hailed as the "Internet’s highest honor," the award is one of the oldest Internet-oriented awards and is associated with the phrase "The Oscars of the Internet."
Davies wins 2023 Media Award from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
The Alamo Area Branch of the Texas Chapter of the NASW recognized Davies with their 2023 Media Award. The award honors Davies for his work that covers many of the same social justice concerns that Texas social workers are facing. He was spotlighted for leading community discussions about those around us who need a helping hand. Davies went on to win the 2023 NASW Media Award for the entire state of Texas.
First Time Recognition from The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)
The NABJ has announced that TPR's Line in the Land Podcast was a finalist for its Salute to Excellence Award. The podcast covers the travails of a grueling 10,000 mile immigration journey that Haitians made across the Americas over the last decade.
