WASHINGTON – WTOP was honored with five Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards Tuesday by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).
The WTOP news team was recognized in the Overall Excellence category for the fifth time in the past seven years for its coverage in the D.C. region. Also, WTOP’s entire staff was recognized with a regional award for Best Website for exclusive reports on everything from D.C.’s homeless camps to the region’s heroin epidemic, and team coverage of the Pope’s visit to D.C.
Individual accolades were presented to WTOP’s Megan Cloherty, Andrew Mollenbeck and Chris Core. Cloherty was recognized in the Feature Reporting category for “A Song for Lexie” — a touching report about the unlikely connection between an NBA star and young musician; Mollenbeck in the Sports Reporting category for “Roots of a Legend” — a one-on-one with broadcasting legend Vin Scully, who began his career at WTOP; and Chris Core in the Writing category for “Core Values” – his entertaining take on the day’s top stories.
“It’s always an honor to be recognized regionally with an Edward R. Murrow award. It’s especially gratifying to be recognized for Overall Excellence and for Best Website,” said WTOP’s Director of News and Programming Mike McMearty. “These are awards shared by everyone in the WTOP newsroom.”
The RTDNA first established the Murrow awards in 1971 to pay tribute to Edward R. Murrow and his many journalism accomplishments. Annually presented by the RTDNA, the Edward R. Murrow Awards recognize outstanding achievements in electronic journalism on the regional and national level.
WTOP now moves on to compete in those five categories for National Edward R. Murrow recognition. In 2016 alone, WTOP has won 16 major journalism awards, including Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Awards and National Headliner Awards.
Listen to the submission that won Overall Excellence:
Listen to “50 Shades of Weird” from Chris Core that earned him the award:
View the links below to see the other submissions that contributed to the Best Website award.
