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WVPB News Team Earns Four National Public Media Awards
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Members of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting news team have earned first- and second-place awards from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) for stories done in 2020.
PMJA awards recognize the best work in public media journalism from across the country. The organization presented 203 awards to 88 stations nationwide during its 2021 Virtual Awards Ceremony. WVPB earned four of those in Division A (8-15 reporters). Stations compete against others with similar-sized newsrooms. Overall, judges reviewed nearly 1,300 entries.
Chuck Roberts, WVPB’s executive director, said that when you consider what the winning stories were about — ‘Country Roads,’ Upper Big Branch, Bluefield City Police and the state’s opioid grandfamily crisis — it’s not surprising the PMJA judges recognized the value of our stories to the public.
“Once again, our news team, which works hard to tell the stories of our state, has been recognized by a national organization for its good work,” Roberts said. “Congratulations to those reporters who won, and to all the others who continue to dig in and tell stories important to the Mountain State and Appalachia, thank you.
“Very little happens in a vacuum at WVPB. We pull together — from production to editing, grants and underwriting to marketing and digital, programming to membership and development — to serve West Virginians. Even our education team takes interesting news content and transforms it to classroom content. Thanks to all of our employees and our generous supporters as well,” Roberts added.
Andrea Billups, WVPB’s news director, is proud of the news team. “After a tough year and many challenges, these awards highlight the commitment to excellence of our news staff. Our work here is mission-driven, and our reporters have embraced that ethic, aspiring to the highest standards of journalism.
“We are grateful for these honors, but we hope everyone knows that the reporting we do is always in service to the people who live in this unique state. We gratefully appreciate their enduring support of our efforts,” Billups said.
Winning entries include:
Bill Danoff
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Taffy Nivert and John Denver play “Country Roads” at the Cellar Door in Washington D.C., in December 1970. It was one of the first times the song was performed in public. This story has won a first-place award from Public Media Journalists Association.
Robert Ellison sued the city of Bluefield in 1999 prompting city leaders to create one of the state’s only groups for civilian oversight of local police. WVPB’s story on this situation has won a national Public Media Journalists Association Award.
Us & Them host Trey Kay’s story “The Legacy Of The Upper Big Branch Disaster” has won a second-place award from the Public Media Journalists Association.
Us & Them host Trey Kay has won a second-place award from the Public Media Journalists Association for his story, “Grandfamilies Of The Opioid Crisis.”
This year’s featured speakers will be award-winning children’s novelist R. L. Stine, nonfiction author Margot Lee Shetterley, New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn, mystery author and West Virginia native Craig Johnson, and local author and illustrator Rosalie Haizlett.
Ronald Talbott, a special education teacher at Jackson Middle School in Wood County, earned West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s January 2026 Above and Beyond Award, which honors the excellence and creativity of Mountain State teachers.
Shane Healy, a social studies teacher at Capital High School in Kanawha County, earned WVPB’s December 2025 Above and Beyond Award. As part of the recognition, Healy received a monetary award and a signature Blenko Glass apple paperweight. The West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office, presenter of the SMART529 college savings program, proudly sponsors the award.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) will host a public screening of selected excerpts from The American Revolution, the landmark documentary series by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, followed by a community conversation at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Brad D. Smith Business and Innovation Center on the campus of Marshall University.