The
Radio Television Digital News Association
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as " rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news dire ...
(formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association) has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Among the most prestigious in news, the Murrow Awards recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...
as a service to the community. Murrow Award winning work demonstrates the excellence that
Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the broadcast news profession.
Judging
Submissions are judged by a panel of professional journalists. Entries from individual stations are judged regionally. The winners from each region are given a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and entered into judging for the national awards. National award winners are recognized each October at the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala in New York City. It is possible for the judges to decide that none of the entries in a given category merit an award, in which case none will be offered.
Entry divisions
Starting in 2015 with the addition of student awards, there were nine divisions
of National Edward R. Murrow Award winners. There are two divisions of local radio, local television, and online organizations based on the size of the media market they serve. These media market sizes are determined by Nielsen for radio and television.
* Radio Small Market: local radio stations located in markets 50+
* Radio Large Market: local radio stations located in markets 1-50
* Television Small Market: local TV stations located in markets 50+
* Television Large Market: local TV stations located in markets 1-50
* Network Radio: A radio network, syndication service, or program service that programs to multiple markets.
* Network Television: A radio network, syndication service, or program service that programs to multiple markets.
* Small Digital News Organization: 2,499,999 or fewer unique visitors per month.
* Large Digital News Organization: 2,499,999 or more unique visitors per month.
* Student: Anyone enrolled in a high school, college or university in the United States, Canada or any other country.
Categories
The RTDNA website lists the following categories
for the Edward R. Murrow Awards.
* Overall Excellence: entry consists of to 40 minutes of examples of the previous year's
news coverage
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. New ...
and then a single
newscast.
* Newscast: One regularly scheduled newscast from the previous year.
*
Breaking News
Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
Coverage (Previously known as "Spot News"): entry may consist of up to 20 minutes of examples of a station's coverage of a single, unscheduled news event.
* Continuing Coverage: entry may consist of up to 30 minutes of examples showing continuing coverage of a major developing story over an extended period of time during the previous year.
* Feature Reporting: a single report of up to 10 minutes covering a human-interest or profile subject that is not breaking news or investigative in nature.
*
Investigative Reporting: entry may consist of up to 15 minutes of examples of journalistic enterprise on an important issue.
* News Documentary: up to 60 minutes of coverage of a single subject reported in a single segment addressing a need or needs in the station's market.
* News Series: coverage of a single subject reported in multiple parts, not to exceed 30 minutes.
*
Hard News
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...
Reporting: a single hard news report of up to 10 minutes prepared for a newscast that is not breaking news or primarily investigative in nature.
*
Sports Reporting: a single packaged report of up to 10 minutes covering a sports-related topic. Anchored segments or stand-alone sports programs and play-by-play are not eligible.
* Excellence in Sound (Formerly 'Use of Sound'): Up to 10 minutes of coverage of a single subject or single segment showing creative use of sound to tell a story.
* Excellence in Video (Formerly 'Use of Video'): an entry up to 10 minutes showing creative use of video to tell a story.
* Writing: up to three examples from the previous year, not exceeding 15 minutes, that demonstrate excellence in writing that conveys the feeling and significance of events to the listener or viewer.
*
Multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...
(Formerly 'Website'): up to 15 examples of URLs, including the news organization's home page, which demonstrate exceptional news coverage and journalistic skill.
*Excellence in Innovation (new for 2017): up to 30 minutes of audio or video coverage, or URLS, apps, social feeds, or any other platform that demonstrates an innovative use of content, engagement, technology and/or audience experience.
*Excellence in
Social Media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
(new for 2017): up to 10 examples of URLs, apps, or other platforms that demonstrate the exceptional use of social media as evidenced by the quality of journalism and the quantity and quality of user engagement.
Noteworthy winners
The Edward R. Murrow Awards are presented to media organizations as a whole rather than to individual journalists. However, many categories are for single news reports done by individual journalists. Some of the prominent journalists responsible for stories that won
Edward R. Murrow awards include
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
,
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and ''Primetime'' newsmagaz ...
,
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hur ...
,
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
,
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born American television journalist who served as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. He dropped o ...
,
Ted Koppel
Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005.
Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 years as a broadc ...
,
Holly Williams,
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer.
Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ...
,
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's '' Today''. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Since 1995, he has hosted ...
,
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American retired journalist and television news anchor. He was a reporter for '' NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. ...
,
Michael Moss
Michael Moss is an American journalist and author. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 2010, and was a finalist for the prize in 2006 and 1999. He is also the recipient of the Gerald Loeb Award for Large Newspapers and ...
,
Serena Altschul
Serena Altschul (born October 13, 1970) is an American broadcast journalist, known for her work at MTV News and CBS.
Early life and education
Altschul was born in New York City, a daughter of author and botanist Siri von Reis and Arthur Altsc ...
, and
Richard Engel
Richard Engel (born September 16, 1973) is an American journalist and author who is the chief foreign correspondent for NBC News. He was assigned to that position on April 18, 2008 after serving as the network's Middle East correspondent and ...
. Full lists of winners and organizations can be found on the RTDNA website.
Student Murrow Awards
In 2015, the RTDNA added a student division to the Murrow Awards. Student Awards are awarded to the individuals or team of individuals that produce them, unlike the professional Murrow Awards, which are presented to a news organization.
The categories for student awards are:
*Excellence in Audio Newscast
*Excellence in Audio Reporting
*Excellence in Video Newscast
*Excellence in Video Reporting
*Excellence in Digital Reporting
In the reporting categories, entries should consist of a single piece, package or series. Newscast entries should consist of a complete newscast up to 30 minutes in length. Digital entries should include digital or multimedia elements, particularly interactive elements, and should not consist solely of audio, video, or text.
Winners by year
RTDNA does not have a comprehensive online listing of all national and regional Edward R. Murrow Award winners since the awards' founding in 1971. Below are links redirecting to annual winners on Wikipedia pages or external links to RTDNA's website.
*
*
2003 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
*2009 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2009 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2010 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2010 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2011 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2011 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2012 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2013 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2014 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2014 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2015 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2015 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2015 Student Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2016 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2016 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2016 Student Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2017 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2017 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
* 2017 Student Edward R. Murrow Award Winners
See also
*
List of American television awards
*
Edward R. Murrow
References
External links
Radio Television Digital News AssociationRTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards
{{Edward R. Murrow, state=collapsed
American journalism awards
Awards established in 1971
1971 establishments in the United States
Edward R. Murrow Awards