High school student Rania Zuri has made it her mission to end book deserts in West Virginia. Book deserts are places without libraries and bookstores, threatening literacy rates for young children. A senior at Morgantown High School, Zuri founded the LiTEArary Society to provide books to preschool children across West Virginia.
WVPB Wins AP Public Service Award for 2016 Flood Coverage
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting won 11 Associated Press awards this weekend, including a public service award for coverage of the historic 2016 floods in southern West Virginia.
The WVPB news team earned the Associated Press of the Virginias Broadcasters’ Douglass Southall Freeman superior award for public service for its coverage of the devastating flooding that hit southern West Virginia in June 2016.
The awards were announced on Saturday, April 1, during a luncheon in Roanoke, Va.
WVPB’s flood coverage included stories and contributions from every reporter in the newsroom, but it was a true organization-wide effort. The news team got help in its coverage from every other department at WVPB, and collaborated with the video production team for a 1-hour Inside Appalachia TV special about the flooding and its aftermath.
Jessica Lilly receives her award for best radio anchor.
news anchor superior award. WVPB also won a meritorious newscast award for an episode of West Virginia Morning filed during the flood coverage and hosted by Liz McCormick.
McCormick also received a meritorious award for her feature called “Drug Epidemic Takes Toll on Foster Care System” about one dramatic way the heroin epidemic is affecting West Virginia.
Individual Effort
Assistant news director and statehouse reporter Ashton Marra, and Appalachia Health News coordinator Kara Lofton each earned meritorious awards for outstanding effort by an individual reporter, having both made significant personal contributions to WVPB’s news coverage during 2016.
Chad Matlick and Dave Mistich were recognized for their outstanding digital talent with a meritorious award for best website, which included live view updates of the 2016 elections on a state and national level.
West Virginia Department of Economic Development Community Advancement and Development Division updates Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding on RISE program.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting won 13 awards in 11 categories over the weekend at the 2021 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters awards luncheon at the Greenbrier Resort. Notably, WVPB’s news team won first place for Outstanding News Operation.