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New England Public Media Newsroom Wins Regional Murrow Award for Excellence in Sound

By Janice Jackson | May 10, 2021
SPRINGFIELD, MA (May 7, 2021) Springfield, MA — New England Public Media’s newsroom has won a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. The award for “excellence in sound” was given in the Small Market Radio category in Region 10, which covers the New England states. The winning story, “Officers Take A Knee To End Tense Protest In Northampton, Mass.” produced by reporter Alden Bourne, first aired on June 2, 2020. The story now moves on to the RTDNA’s national round for consideration.

“The best radio stories put your right in the scene,” said NEPM News Director Sam Hudzik. “That’s what Alden did here, taking listeners along as he covered a march against police brutality, as tensions rose outside the police station, as the situation escalated and then subsided. You hear the demonstrators, the speeches, the anger, the negotiations. I’m proud of our coverage in the past year of protests for racial justice, as well as our reports examining underlying systemic issues.”

“This story was a lesson in what can happen when you keep gathering sound on the scene to see what might unfold,” said Bourne. “That was the recommendation of News Director Sam Hudzik after the initial march and demonstration were over, and it proved fruitful. I was able to tell a more complex and compelling story — one that hopefully added to our listeners’ understanding of last summer’s protests against police brutality.”
NEPM's Alden Bourne
NEPM’s Alden Bourne
Before joining New England Public Media, Bourne was a producer for the CBS NEWS program 60 Minutes. In that role, he covered  topics ranging from art, music and medicine to business, education, and politics. Working with correspondent Morley Safer, he reported from locations across the United States as well as from India, Costa Rica, Italy, and Iraq.  He was part of the 60 Minutes team that won a duPont-Columbia University Award for “60 Minutes: Punishing Saddam,” a report on the impact of U.N. sanctions on the children of Iraq. He has also been honored for excellence in coverage of race and ethnicity by the Columbia University School of Journalism  for “Vice Versa,” a story on a white-only scholarship program at an historically Black college in Alabama. Alden has been on staff at NEPM since May 2016.
The Radio Television Digital News Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Murrow set as a standard for the profession of electronic journalism.
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC MEDIA
New England Public Media is a community-supported, independent non-profit organization based in Springfield, MA.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.

NEPM brings quality public television programs to audiences across western New England, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs, to hear diverse viewpoints, and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS KIDS helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. NEPM’s locally produced television programming includes the magazine-format public affairs show Connecting Point, the bilingual series Presencia, and the academic quiz show As Schools Match Wits. NEPM is available over the air on digital channel 57-1 and on cable throughout western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut and can be seen in high definition in western Massachusetts at Comcast 857, Time Warner 1221, Spectrum 782, and over the air on channel 57.

New England Public Media’s radio presence provides an essential and trusted voice for the region through local reporting and locally-produced music programming, and by connecting the region to the world through its partnership with NPR and other national and international public media organizations. Its flagship signal, 88.5FM WFCR, and 5 repeating stations in Berkshire County, presents news, jazz, and classical music, while the six stations of the NEPM News Network provide the region with news, talk, and cultural programming 24/7.
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