John Nakashima Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

WVPB's John Nakashima Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

John Nakashima, a longtime senior television producer and director with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, has won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards ceremony at The Greenbrier Resort today. The WVPB news team also won seven first and two second place awards.

“I’m honored to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award, but I’m certainly not finished,” Nakashima said. “What an experience for my body of work to be recognized up to this point and for the wonderfully warm congratulations I received from the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters. I’m now looking forward to making as many documentaries as I can as long as I can.”

Nakashima has produced, directed, shot, written, and edited documentaries and music programs for public television in the Mountain State since 1977. His work explores West Virginia culture in the widest sense — including visual and performing arts, traditional and modern culture, historical documentaries, and contemporary issues. This Lifetime Achievement Award joins other awards for Nakashima, including multiple Regional Emmys, a Citizen of the Year distinction, and West Virginia Filmmaker of the Year 2013, to name a few.

Butch Antolini, WVPB’s interim director, said Nakashima has much to be proud of. “John Nakashima’s filmmaking legacy is impressive, and all of us at West Virginia Public Broadcasting are glad he’s been recognized by such a prestigious group as the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters,” Antolini said. “We’re also quite proud of the many awards brought home by the news team.”

Members of WVPB’s news team won awards in categories from Best Spot News to Best Investigative Reporting. Andrea Billups serves as news director for the statewide public media outlet.

“From features to in-depth reporting, and spot news to editorials, these awards showcase the depth of strong journalism that occurs at West Virginia Public Broadcasting,” Billups said. “We are incredibly proud of our work, proud to be journalists in this era, and proud to have support from our many listeners and followers across the state and region. We are all invested in doing the kind of work that elevates and shines a light on issues facing our state.”

WVPB winners in the Radio I Metro division include:

Best Spot News
First Place, Dave Mistich for “There’s an Endpoint: First Group in West Virginia Vaccinated for COVID-19”

Best Documentary or In-Depth
First Place, Roxy Todd, Mason Adams and Jessica Lilly for “Finding a Way Forward”
Second Place, Trey Kay and Kyle Vass for “Us & Them: Without a Home Can You Be a Good Neighbor?”

Best Light Feature
Second Place, Emily Allen for “Wrestlers and Fans Venture ‘Out of the Darkness’ With Drive-In Show”

Best Editorial or Editorial Series
First Place, Trey Kay for “Us & Them: Let Us Bind Up the Nation’s Wounds.”

Best Specialty Reporting
First Place, Caitlin Tan for “Folktales and Music Bring to Life the West Virginia/Welsh Connection.”

Best Investigative Reporting
First Place, Dave Mistich and Brittany Patterson for “Coal Operator Who Fought Against Black Lung Regulations Files for Black Lung Benefits.”

Best Radio News Anchor
First Place, Jessica Lilly for “Appalachian Strength in the Face of a Pandemic.”

Best Mountain State Heritage
First Place, Zack Harold for “A Family Cultivates Tradition With a Nearly-Forgotten Tomato.”

During the organization’s annual meeting, Eric Douglas, WVPB’s assistant news director, was elected to the board of directors and will serve alongside Jessica Lilly.

WVPB’s former intern from West Virginia University, Duncan Slade, won a $1,500 scholarship.

Producers at West Virginia Public Broadcasting Receive Awards

Two staff members at West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) have received awards related to telling West Virginia’s story in their roles as documentarians, reporters and producers.

Suzanne Higgins received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Association.

John Nakashima, and Suzanne Higgins, both senior producers have been honored by the social workers of West Virginia, and the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Association (VAPB) respectively.

“We are so proud of John and Suzanne and their collection of award-winning work,” said Scott Finn, Executive Director of WVPB. “Our documentaries and news programs tell West Virginia’s stories in ways other media cannot. The fact that John’s and Suzanne’s work is recognized by our peers and organizations using their work is a testament to that.”

Nakashima’s powerful documentary The First 1,000 Days: Investing in West Virginia’s Children When It Counts earned him the National Association of Social Workers West Virginia (NASW-WV) Chapter’s “Public Citizen of the Year Award” which was presented at the NASW-WV annual conference this week. The film explores the multi-faceted and often misunderstood world of early child development. It looks at issues within the state and introduces viewers to family programs that are changing the lives of children and helping adults become better parents.

“On the whole issue of child poverty in West Virginia, focusing on early childhood development is the best place to start,” says Nakashima. “A child’s first 1,000 days occur only once in a lifetime. Both parents working to keep a family afloat is just one of several obstacles facing our parents and quality parenting time during these crucial years.”

Nakashima has produced, directed, shot, and edited documentaries for WVPB since 1977. His work explores West Virginia culture in the widest sense –- including visual and performing arts as well as traditional and modern culture. In addition, he has edited five documentaries that have won regional Emmy Awards for Best Documentary or Historical Documentary. In 2014 he was awarded the West Virginia Filmmaker of the Year.

In March, Higgins received the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters’ Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is given annually by the VAPB to an individual who has made significant contributions to news reporting, management, or education in West Virginia broadcasting for at least 20 years. Suzanne is the recipient of the national Pew Charitable Trust’s Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting, an Emmy Award, and several West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association awards.

Her newest television documentary, Jay: A Rockefeller’s Journey (co-produced with WVPB’s Russ Barbour, also an award-winning documentarian) premieres later this month at West Virginia University and will be broadcast in June. This two-hour documentary will explore Rockefeller’s 50 years of public service, including his successes and disappointments, his motivation, character, and focus — from his arrival as a poverty worker to his chairmanship of some of the most influential committees in the United States Senate.

Also at the VAPB awards, WVPB took home nine outstanding and superior awards for various news categories including spot news, in-depth reporting, best anchor, best sports feature and best human interest story. Jessica Lilly, Southern News Bureau Chief, received The Douglas Southall Award for Public Service Reporting for her in-depth series about clean water struggles in Wyoming County.

###

LISTEN: Behind The First 1,000 Days: Q&A with Producer John Nakashima

Producer John Nakashima sits down to discuss the making of The First 1,000 Days: Investing in WV Children When it Counts.

In West Virginia, one in every three kids lives in poverty. It’s an extremely concerning problem, especially in light of research that demonstrates how poverty can effect brain development in kids—the Future of our state.

This is the subject of a new documentary West Virginia Public Broadcasting has produced called The First Thousand Days: Investing in West Virginia Kids When It Counts. Award-winning producer John Nakashima gets all of the experts to weigh in on the problem of child poverty in West Virginia, and what he discovered and has documented, is an overwhelming need of services and support for the very youngest and most vulnerable among us. Glynis Board sat down with John Nakashima to learn more about what he gleaned from making The First 1,000 Days…

Clifftop Fans – Check Out This Documentary

This weekend, hundreds of fans of old-time music braved rain and mud to jam with each other at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival — known better by its nickname, Clifftop.

Our own Bill Lynch wrote this story in the Sunday Gazette-Mail about Clifftop 2014. It talks about the informal, spontaneous nature of the event, where musicians wander from group to group, striking up jams along the way.

And you should watch this half-hour documentary that captures the energy of the event from producer John Nakashima, “Clifftop.” I especially love the footage of the all-night jam session at the end.

Spy? Journalist? Both? Find out tonight in this special documentary

Frank Kearns: American Correspondent

Tonight at 9 p.m. on WV PBS.2

Watch the Emmy-award winning documentary Frank Kearns: American Correspondent tonight at 9 p.m. on WV PBS.2.

The documentary introduces the life and award-winning work of CBS News correspondent and former WVU School of Journalism professor Frank M. Kearns. For 20 years, beginning in the 1950s, Kearns reported for CBS News from Africa and the Middle East. In 1971, he returned to his alma mater in to teach and was named the distinguished Benedum Professor of Journalism. He retired in 1983. During that time, a former CBS news executive told Congress that Kearns also worked for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency while he was reporting for CBS in the 1950s. Kearns denied this accusation until his death from cancer in 1986.

The documentary’s writer, director, and producer is Gerald Davis. West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Chip Hitchcock is producer and director of photography and John Nakashima edited the film.

Frank Kearns: American Correspondent Screening

Frank Kearns: American Correspondent

Screening and panel discussion

Room 205, Martin Hall

West Virginia University, Morgantown

Monday, September 30 at 7 p.m.

West Virginia University’s chapter of RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association) is hosting a screening of the Emmy award-winning documentary, Frank Kearns: American Correspondent. The event is free and open to the public. A panel discussion with the documentary’s writer, director, and producer Gerald Davis; producer and director of photography Chip Hitchcock; and editor John Nakashima will follow the screening.

This documentary premiered on West Virginia PBS and also aired on select PBS stations nationwide in 2012. It won a regional Emmy this year.