Awards arrived in many forms this spring for Nashville Public Radio, placing our community-supported local journalism in the national spotlight and among impressive public media peers.
On the national level, WPLN’s investigative partnership with ProPublica has been recognized by the Education Writers Association. The reporting delves deeply into the state’s “threats of mass violence” laws and how they are being carried out with students.
“These articles are a masterclass in how to persist when official data and cooperation are scant to nonexistent,” wrote one judge.
“Always good to look at what legislators say a new piece of law will do and what it actually does. In this case, some pretty eye-opening and horrible examples of the misuse of power, prompting at least some attempts at amending the legislation,” wrote another.
This body of reporting also caught the attention of the National Association of Black Journalists, which made one story in particular a finalist in its Digital Media category: An 11-Year-Old Denied Making a Threat and Was Allowed to Return to School. Tennessee Police Arrested Him Anyway
One for Nashville Public Radio’s most ambitious podcasts is also on the NABJ’s radar. “Making Noise” is a finalist in the category for arts and culture podcasts.
Within the broadcast community, the Edward R. Murrow Awards carry prestige. They’ve been given out by the Radio Television Digital News Association since 1971.
These are presented each year initially at a regional level, and honorees are then considered for a National Murrow Award in October.
Regional Murrow Awards were presented in the feature reporting category for “How this camp for kids who stutter builds confidence and connections” and in the news documentary category for Music Citizens episode 2: The Operator.
How this camp for kids who stutter builds confidence and connections
WPLN’s newsroom staff size places it in the second-largest tier for the Public Media Journalists Association. That’s where two first place honors were given out in late June, in Arts Feature and Interview Program categories.
Finally, if you managed to miss one of WPLN’s most high-profile projects — “Supermajority” — it’s the kind of deep reporting that remains relevant now.
This partnership with NPR’s Embedded was a finalist for the prestigious Peabody and was named a winner by the New York Festivals Radio Awards, the National Press Foundation and the National Headliner Awards. And we can’t summarize it better than the Headliner judges:
“This series, following a trio of Nashville women on their political evolution following a school shooting, embodies the category perfectly. Great job covering events in real time from inside the Tennessee state house while telling the story,” they wrote. “Excellent sound from all of the principals enhanced the coverage throughout.”
Emily April Allen Interview subjects from the podcast “Supermajority” speak with WPLN journalist Meribah Knight at the Belcourt Theatre.
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