Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM won eight first place Alabama Associated Press Media Editor awards at a ceremony held June 1, 2019 including the first place award for Outstanding News Operation.
“It’s refreshing to work in a newsroom where the mission is clear: tell good stories that matter. Our reporters put a lot of time and effort into their journalism and it shows,” says WBHM News Director Gigi Douban. “We’re truly honored to have received this special recognition. It’s a testament to the news staff’s tremendous talent, hard work, and dedication.”
In addition to Outstanding News Operation, WBHM earned a total of 18 awards including:
- Best Regularly Scheduled Newscast, First Place: Andrew Yeager
- Best Anchor, First Place: Andrew Yeager
- Best Specialized Reporter, First Place: Mary Scott Hodgin
- Best Lifestyle Feature, First Place: Gigi Douban, “Airline Lost Your Luggage? Here’s Where It Lands”
- Best Coverage of a Spot News Story, First Place: Gigi Douban, Janae Pierre, and Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, “Confusion and Frustration Grow After Police Shooting at Alabama Mall”
- Best News Feature, First Place: Gigi Douban, Janae Pierre, and Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, “Confusion and Frustration Grow After Police Shooting at Alabama Mall”
- Best Investigative Reporting, First Place: Mary Scott Hodgin, “Conservation Groups Push for Faster Alerts on Sewage Spills”
- Best Reporter, Second Place: Andrew Yeager
- Best Use of Tape, Second Place: Andrew Yeager, “Birmingham Student Puts Braille Skills to the Test”
- Best Public Affairs or Documentary, Second Place: “The Senior Series”
- Best News Feature, Second Place: Janae Pierre, “Questions Loom Over Police Killing of Man Believed To Be a Gunman in Alabama Mall”
- Best Series, Second Place: “The Senior Series”
- Best Investigative Reporting, Second Place: Gigi Douban, “Why Birmingham-Southern is Slashing Tuition”
- Best Use of Tape, Third Place: Mary Scott Hodgin, “Deaf Football Players Find Novel Ways to Communicate”
- Best Lifestyle Feature Third Place: Andrew Yeager, “How a Small Alabama Town Pioneered The First 9-1-1 Call”
- Best Coverage of a Scheduled Event, Third Place: Sherrel Wheeler Stewart and Andrew Yeager, “Birmingham Attorney, Coal Executive Found Guilty of Bribing State Lawmaker”
- Best General Sports, Third Place: Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, “James “Jake” Sanders, Negro League Baseball Star”
- Best Reporter, Third Place: Mary Scott Hodgin
“Smart journalists doing superb work — that’s what’s being recognized here and it is what WBHM’s audience has come to expect,” says General Manager Chuck Holmes. “These awards reflect our deep commitment to our public service mission and a standard of quality journalism that we deliver every day.”
The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative representing 1,400 newspapers and 5,000 broadcast stations in the United States.
About WBHM
Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM, a member-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. Listen to WBHM’s programming and award-winning regional journalism on air, online at WBHM.org, and through the app or a smart speaker. Follow the station @WBHM on Twitter, on Facebook, and @WBHM903 on Instagram.