WVPB Newsroom Has 11 Finalists In 8 Categories Of The 2023 Virginias AP Broadcasters Awards 

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s News Department has secured 11 nominations in eight categories in the 2023 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters annual awards competition. This competition includes the best radio and television stations in both West Virginia and Virginia. 

The awards include stories from programs Us & Them and Inside Appalachia. 

Us & Them is produced by Trey Kay for WVPB, and Inside Appalachia is our 20 plus year old news magazine show that looks at the culture, history and future of the Appalachian region. Part of that show is the Folkways Project which encourages amateur reporters to go into their communities and report on what they see. Two of those stories were finalists in the Best Light Feature category. 

The daily newsroom secured five finalist nominations in Best Continuing News, Best MMJ/One-Person Band Reporter, Best QA (One-on-One) Interview, Best Specialty Reporting, and Excellence in Public Service Through Journalism. 

“These awards recognize the hard work and innovation the news team and the shows like Inside Appalachia put into covering our region,” said Eric Douglas, WVPB news director. “But it is just the tip of the iceberg in the thousands of stories we publish each year to help tell West Virginia’s story.”

There were 35 judges who evaluated 619 entries from 38 news organizations in Virginia and West Virginia. The finalists are listed in random order. The actual order of finish —  first and second places — will be announced at the VAPB Awards Luncheon on Saturday, March 23, 12-3 p.m., at The Greenbrier Resort.  

Best Continuing News:

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

Best MMJ/One-Person Band Reporter: 

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

Best QA (One-on-One) Interview:

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

Best Specialty Reporting:

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

Excellence in Public Service Through Journalism: 

• Eric Douglas, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring for Aging Parents”;
  
  
• Mitch Hanley, Emily Haavik and Tasha A.F. Lemley, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Us and Them: The Challenges of Incarcerated Persons.” 

Best Podcast-Audio:

• Trey Kay and Mitch Hanley, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Us and Them: Compassion Fatigue”;
  
  
• Trey Kay and Christina Stella, WVPB-FM, Charleston, WV, “Us and Them: SNAP. Do the Hungry Get More Policy Than Nutrition?”

Best Light Feature:

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

Best Mountain State Heritage:

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