Michigan Radio was recognized this past weekend with three awards from the Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI). The station received a First Place award in the Large Newsroom-Commentary category for “Michigan athletics loses magic and fans thanks to Brandon's policies,” by John U. Bacon. The commentary explored the controversial policies of former University of Michigan Athletic Director David Brandon that had alienated many students and fans. The station also received a Second Place award in the Breaking News-Nationally Edited category for “Lake Erie Algal bloom shuts down Toledo water,” and in the Large Newsroom-Newscast category for the station’s Feb. 7, 2014 Newscast. The Lake Erie story, which was heard nationally on NPR, covered the evolving crisis last August as more than 400,000 people in the Toledo area were without drinking water due to a huge cyanobacteria bloom.
The awards were presented to the station on June 27, at PRNDI's annual conference in Salt Lake City. The awards included recognition for excellent journalism produced in 2014 in new arts and sports feature categories as well as or multimedia, nationally edited, and student work. The competition was especially fierce this year with over 1,100 entries from public radio newsrooms across the country. A complete list of PRNDI winners is here.
Public Radio News Directors Incorporated is a non-profit professional association that exists to improve local news and information programming by serving public radio journalists across the United States. The organization educates and advocates to promote high standards, ethical principles, and significant public service among public radio stations.
