WVPB Newsroom Brings Home Awards From Virginias AP Broadcasters

Winners of the 2023 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters (VAPB) Awards were announced March 23 at the Awards Luncheon and Annual Membership Meeting at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Thirty-eight news organizations in Virginia and West Virginia submitted 619 entries in the contest, which featured news and sports from 2023.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) brought home five first place awards and seven second place awards in eight different categories. 

The VAPB also awarded a $3,000 scholarship to Hunner Moore, a student majoring in media and broadcast journalism at West Virginia University’s (WVU) Reed College of Media.

The VAPB is an independent association comprised of local members of The Associated Press, a not-for-profit news cooperative that represents thousands of newspapers and broadcast stations across the United States.

Winners In The 2023 Virginias AP Broadcasters Contest: 

COMBINED DIVISION (TV/RADIO):

Best Podcast-Audio:

• First, Trey Kay and Christina Stella, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Us & Them: SNAP – Do the Hungry Get More Policy Than Nutrition?”
  

• Second, Trey Kay and Mitch Hanley, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Us & Them: Compassion Fatigue.”

RADIO I/METRO:

Best Continuing News:

• First, Katherine Hafner, WHRO-FM, Norfolk, VA, “Norfolk’s Floodwall Plan”
  
  
• Second, Emily Rice, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “West Virginia’s Opioid Settlement Money.”

Best Light Feature:

• First, Rebecca Williams, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Wassailing Helps Singers in Asheville Connect to Ancestral Roots”
  
  
• Second, Wendy Welch, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Appalachian Mushroom Experts Welcome Sprouting Newbies.”

Best MMJ/One-Person Band Reporter:

• First, Patrick Larsen, VPM News, Richmond, VA
  
  
• Second, Briana Heaney, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Many West Side Residents Are Frustrated They’re Still in the Cold.”

Best QA (One-on-One) Interview:

• First, Bill Lynch, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Interview With an Appalachian Village Witch”
  
  
• Second, Ian Stewart, VPM News, Richmond, VA, “Veronica O. Davis: Civil Engineer, Transportation Planner, Self-Described Transportation Nerd.”

Best Specialty Reporting:

• First, Ben Paviour, VPM News, Richmond, VA, “Politics/Criminal Justice”
  
  
• Second, Emily Rice, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Unwinding Medicaid.”

Best Mountain State Heritage:

• First, Zack Harold, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “A Family Heirloom in Your Grocer’s Freezer”
  
  
• Second, Trey Kay and Todd Melby, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “A Fiddler Contemplates the Fate of the Mountain State.”

Excellence in Public Service Through Journalism:

• First, Mitch Hanley, Emily Haavik and Tasha A.F. Lemley, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Us & Them: The Challenges of Incarcerated Persons”
  
  • This entry included the following stories:
    
    • Us & Them: Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars In West Virginia
    • Us & Them: Re-Entry
    • Us & Them: Who Gets Stuck Behind Bars In West Virginia?
      
      
• Second, Eric Douglas, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring for Aging Parents.”