More than 450 of America's most talented journalists saw first hand the power of original, in-depth
reporting at the 2010 RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards dinner in New York on Monday night .
The Radio Television Digital News Association celebrated the
best in radio, television and online journalism as it presented 89 Edward R.
Murrow Awards to 59 news organizations at a black tie dinner.
Winners were honored for thought-provoking investigative pieces and compelling,
personal stories as well as coverage of major news events, including President
Barack Obama's inauguration and the Hudson River plane crash that made pilot
Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger a national hero.
"We face troubled times as citizens and as journalists," said
NBC News President Steve Capus, who accepted the Overall Excellence Award on
behalf of his organization. "Companies are strained in their ability to innovate
and are asked to take short cuts at the expense of quality."
Capus said that while he too has felt the pressure from
smaller budgets and even smaller newsrooms, NBC is investing in news and asked
his colleagues to do so as well.
"It's more important now than ever to strive
for the journalistic excellence embodied by the Murrow awards. ... This unique,
quality journalism is what will make us stand out in this super saturated
communication world," he said.
CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick, who received a
standing ovation when accepting the Overall Excellence Award for CBS Radio News,
congratulated her colleagues for continuing to strive for excellence in
journalism "in a day and age where the news cycle seems to spin out of control
and leave you dazed."
When asked how journalists can survive today's challenges,
she advised: "Remain committed to the stories you believe in."
McCormick, who
has won numerous awards for her work, ranging from coverage of the September 11
attacks to Iraq war, survived an explosion last year while on assignment in
Afghanistan.
"It's tougher with today's tighter budgetary concerns, but you
really have to fight for it," she said.
McCormick went on to say that while many journalists have
lost their jobs in television and radio, there are many opportunities online.
For the first time, RTDNA opened the awards to online news
operations, to truly reflect the way people are consuming news, said RTDNA
Chairman Mark Kraham. The Associated Press won all six awards for a national
audience.
RTDNA and UNITY: Journalists of Color also honored five news
organizations for outstanding diversity coverage. The winners were CNN, CTV
News-Prince George’s Community Television, Alabama Public Radio, American Public
Media and WBEZ-FM.
The dinner at the Grand Hyatt was a star-studded event of
notable journalists, including NBC's Brian Williams, CBS' Harry Smith, ABC's Jim
Sciutto and MSNBC's Keith Obermann.
But perhaps one of the most comforting speeches came from a
23-year-old reporter/anchor from WATD-FM in Marshfield, MA, who told the
audience he was confident in the future of small market news organizations like
his.
"Small markets are valuable and viable," said Steve Dodrill,
who accepted the Overall Excellence Award in the small market radio category for
WATD-FM. "Young folks are the future of the industry." Click here for full coverage of the dinner
RTNDA is the world’s largest professional organization devoted
exclusively to electronic journalism. RTNDA represents local and network
news executives in broadcasting, cable and other electronic media in
more than 30 countries.
Green Room Blog
By Lynn Walsh
Flashing lights, awards and a room full of inspiring journalists.
That was the scene Monday night in the Green Room at the Radio Television Digital News Association Edward R. Murrow Awards show as journalists from across the country accepted awards for excellent electronic journalism stories.
If you wanted to congratulate someone for a win or ask someone how they were able to produce, write, shoot or edit such a great story then the Green Room was the place to be. After receiving awards in categories ranging from best use of sound and best use of video to best feature report and hard news story.
Of course there was lots of picture-taking with some of the most well known broadcast journalists in the news industry (Ann Curry, Brian Williams, John Roberts, Harry Smith, Jim Sciutto, Keith Olbermann), but the Green Room was more than a photo-op; it was a room where colleagues could congratulate one another on a job well done and most importantly gain knowledge and insight from other award-winning journalists.
While interviewing the awardees for the RTDNA YouTube page I was reminded of two things; one the role and importance of new technology and two the need for great storytelling.
The winners Monday were able to tell a story to audiences across the country while eliciting emotions and providing valuable information.
The key to telling a great story many said is capturing great characters. Capturing great characters can mean spending a lot of time with the subject of your story, something many awardees put into action while working on their broadcast pieces.
But, it is not just the people in the story that make a broadcast narrative roll off the tip of the tongue. Many awardees expressed the viewers and listeners need for information and without fulfilling that need they will tune out and be left unsatisfied.
While storytelling may be more of an art than using new technologies that does not mean the newest gadgets available to journalists are not helpful when it comes to putting together award-winning stories.
Over and over again, awardees mentioned how by using an iPhone or small recording device captured they were able to capture the best sound in the story. Most of the winners did not have huge production crews but merely the phone in their pant pocket to capture the natural sounds and video that surrounded them at the scene of their stories.
Online tools, like Twitter, were also valuable to many of the awardees as they monitored breaking news and tracked down sources to interview.
The knowledge and desire in the Green Room Monday far outweighed the bright flashes of the camera—something, that in a time when some may say the future of the news industry is bleak, should be inspiring to journalists everywhere as we continue to search for the truth and tell stories that matter.
