NEPM receives multiple industry awards for excellence
June 8, 2022, Springfield, Mass. — New England Public Media is proud to announce the receipt of several prestigious broadcast industry awards for radio, TV and digital content. NEPM’s Connecting Point won a Communicator Award from The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts and two Telly Awards. NEPM also won a 2022 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the Small Market Radio category for a three-part series on the science of eyewitness testimony.
The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts selected NEPM’s Connecting Point for a Communicator Award which recognizes “excellence, effectiveness, and innovation across all areas of communication.”
Connecting Point’s multimedia project “Divided: Scenes from Inauguration 2021” won the Silver Award of Distinction in the General – Politics Website category. For this effort, photojournalist Barry Goldstein traveled to Washington D.C. to cover the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Connecting Point’s first multiplatform photojournalism project, it combined audio interviews and documentary photography as audiograms, delivered via social media in real-time from our nation’s Capital.
“I’d like to offer my deepest appreciation and admiration to Dr. Goldstein and to Connecting Point Digital Media Manager Rachel Scott, who brought expansive digital vision and creative flair to the project, elevating it to a level beyond my wildest hopes,” said Connecting Point Executive Producer Tony Dunne. “It was a wonderful collaboration, and to have it recognized and honored by our industry peers is very special.”
NEPM’s Connecting Point also took two prizes at the 43rd Annual Telly Awards, which honors excellence in local, regional and cable television. Receiving over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents, Telly Award winners represent work from some of the most respected television stations, production companies, advertising agencies and publishers from around the world.
Connecting Point’s “Intersection of Art & Politics” was the season premiere episode that introduced the show’s new focus on local arts and culture. It won in the Television – Miscellaneous category. “On the Road in Pittsfield” won in the Television –Travel/Tourism category. Shot entirely on location in the Berkshire County city of Pittsfield, it was Connecting Point’s first “On the Road” episode.
“These two Telly Award wins are significant for us, as the episodes being honored are milestones in the development of the program,” said Dunne. “The all-location Pittsfield show was a perfect example of what Connecting Point does best — going directly into the community to explore everything that makes life in western New England so wonderful. And our ‘Intersection of Art and Politics’ episode not only marked a new era in the direction of the program, it also explored our fractured democracy through the eyes of local artists on the one-year anniversary of the insurrection at the Capital.”
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) is the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to broadcast and digital journalism. Its mission is to promote and protect responsible journalism. It honors outstanding work in the profession through the Edward R. Murrow Awards.
“Questioning the Witness,” a three-part investigative series by NEPM reporter Karen Brown, won this year’s Edward R. Murrow Award for a news series in the Small Market Radio category. The series looked at the evolving science of eyewitness testimony and the people with the greatest stake in how it’s used.
“This was a really important series focusing on criminal justice — and also the science of criminal justice,” said NEPM News Director Sam Hudzik. “As she does in all of her reporting, Karen introduced us to the people at the heart of the issue, so they can tell their own stories. I’m proud of Karen’s work and so thankful we can give our news team the time and resources to pursue this kind of enterprise reporting.”
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC MEDIA
New England Public Media is a community-supported, independent non-profit organization based in Springfield, Massachusetts. Through a deep commitment to independent local journalism, trusted educational content, inspired cultural offerings, and civic engagement, NEPM endeavors to share new voices and inspire new conversations. It provides audiences with a broad array of local and national programs across all media — TV, radio, online, and mobile, including PBS and NPR programs as well as locally produced series, podcasts and specials. Its four digital TV channels, and two radio networks present news, jazz and classical music, documentaries, talk, drama, plus cultural and educational programming.