Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has been honored with five national Edward R. Murrow Awards for our online work, including awards for our website and the highest honor of overall excellence.
The Radio Television Digital News Association, which administers the prestigious awards, called this “a remarkable quintuple win.”
“The Dead Unknown,” a video series that examines the failure of law enforcement officials and coroners to identify unnamed and unclaimed bodies, won two awards: outstanding video news documentary and video continuing coverage. The video was produced, directed and edited by Michael I Schiller, co-produced by Rachel de Leon and executive produced by Amanda Pike. It was based on reporting by G.W. Schulz and overseen by Senior Editor Fernando Diaz. The Lost & The Found app, a tool created by Reveal’s data team to help solve these cases by connecting missing people with the unidentified dead, has generated more than 250 possible matches to date.
“The Secret History of American Surveillance,” which traces the surprising origins of the modern surveillance state and examines how beholden the government has become to private corporations that handle our sensitive information, was honored for video feature reporting. The video was produced, directed and edited by Ariane Wu with motion graphics animation by Richard Levien and was executive produced by Amanda Pike. The story is part of Reveal’s Post Script series, which examines how some of mankind’s brightest ideas wound up taking an abrupt turn from their original design.
The awards for website and overall excellence in the small online news organization division honored Reveal’s recent body of work. Noteworthy projects from the last year have included an investigation into Jehovah’s Witnesses’ use of the First Amendment to cover up cases of child abuse within their congregations and an accompanying look at the organization’s history, a sonification of Oklahoma’s rising rate of earthquakes and an examination of the deadly consequences of North Dakota’s oil boom, which also featured a play based on the investigation.
A partner investigation by WAMU, Reveal and American University also won a national award for investigative reporting in the large market radio division. Assault on Justice examined how the charge of assaulting a police officer, which is meant to shield police from danger, also can be used as a tactic against citizens. The story was reported by Patrick Madden of WAMU and edited by Christina Davidson. For Reveal, Susanne Reber was the investigative editor, and Deborah George was the radio editor. David Donald and Lynne Perri from the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University were editors. The story also aired on Reveal, our national public radio show and podcast produced with PRX.
A complete list of winners is available here.
The Edward R. Murrow Awards are named for the veteran broadcaster to recognize outstanding journalism produced by radio, television and online organizations around the world. They are given annually by the Radio Television Digital News Association.
