WBHM 90.3 FM Education Reporter Dan Carsen Receives Multiple Awards for Journalism Excellence
Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM’s Southern Education Desk Reporter Dan Carsen is the recipient of three awards for excellence in broadcast journalism for his reporting on education issues in Alabama.
The awards are:
- The Council on Contemporary Families award for Broadcast Coverage of Family Issues for “Holiday Hunger,” “New Wave of School Integration in Birmingham, Ala.” and the two-part series “From Failure to National Model: The George Hall Elementary Turnaround.”
- The Education Writers Association First Place Prize for Beat Reporting.
- The Medical Association of the State of Alabama Douglas L. Cannon Broadcast Journalism Award for “Holiday Hunger.”
This is the second year in a row Carsen has been honored by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama; in 2012 he received the Cannon award for his story “Polluted Schools.”
“WBHM is heard by more than 92,000 listeners per week in North Central Alabama, and we are committed to bringing each and every one of them thoughtful, authentic reporting that contributes to an informed discussion on important issues,” said WBHM General Manager Scott Hanley. “We are very proud of the work Dan and the Southern Education Desk have done to tell stories that need to be told about education.”
The Council on Contemporary Families said Carsen’s reporting has “lively authenticity,” is “upbeat but far from candy-coated” and that “these stories are an important contribution to the national discourse about the family-school nexus and the reform and role of schools in underserved communities.”
Carsen was hailed by the Education Writers Association judges because “he didn’t seem to get caught like many reporters do in a pattern of doing stories the same way.” He was further recognized for his “very compelling reporting” and because “each story [was] very strong.” The fully body of Carsen’s reporting can be found at www.wbhm.org/News/WBHMEdDesk.
The Southern Education Desk (SED) a consortium of public media stations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee committed to exploring the challenges and opportunities confronting education in the southern United States in the 21st century. The SED’s mission is to be a clearinghouse for resources and research, as well as a forum for participation in a reasoned discussion on the challenges of education in the southern United States.
The Council on Contemporary Families is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of family researchers, mental health and social practitioners and clinicians dedicated to providing the press and public with the latest research and best-practice findings about American families.
The Education Writers Association (EWA), based in Washington, D.C., is a national professional organization of members of the media who specialize in education. For more than 60 years, EWA has provided training, information and customized support to its more than 2,500 journalist members.
The Medical Association of the State of Alabama (MASA) is the professional association for physicians of all specialties throughout Alabama.
About WBHM
Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM, a listener-supported service of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is “Your NPR News Station” and home to the Alabama Radio Reading Service for the blind and print-impaired. WBHM programming and award-winning regional journalism also can be heard in North Central Alabama on WSGN 91.5 FM through a partnership with Gadsden State Community College. Listen and give online at WBHM.org and follow the station at WBHM903 on Twitter and Facebook.