Saddam Abbas Al-Zubaidi earned three first-place awards for his work on WTIU's TV series Journey Indiana. Photo courtesy of the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
WFIU, WTIU, and Indiana Public Broadcasting News (IPB News) earned 24 awards at the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Best in Indiana Journalism Contest on April 26. The awards recognize the most outstanding work of the year in Indiana in print, broadcast, and online journalism.
The WFIU-WTIU News team won 18 awards, including five first-place awards for best radio newscast, best TV newscast for Indiana Newsdesk, radio breaking news coverage of the death of Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight, radio sports reporting, and environmental reporting; five second-place awards for radio breaking news coverage, radio sports reporting, radio continuing news coverage, best podcast for Rush to Kill, and election and campaign coverage; and eight third-place awards for radio feature story, best online multimedia for Paper Cuts, serious feature story, best documentary/special for IU Women’s Basketball: Rising to the Top, business/consumer affairs reporting, coverage of children’s issues, coverage of social justice issues, and medical/science reporting.
WTIU received three first-place awards for its TV series Journey Indiana. The program was honored with best general news/sports videography for a story on The National Model Aviation Museum and best features news videography and best light feature story for a segment on 16mm film.
IPB News received one second-place award for environmental reporting and two third-place awards for radio in-depth reporting and radio continuing coverage. IPB News is a collaboration of the state’s nine public media newsrooms and a shared statewide team, which includes journalists from the WFIU/WTIU newsroom.
A complete list of awards follows:
RADIO BEST NEWSCAST
1st Place
Sara Wittmeyer, WFIU/WTIU News
RADIO BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE
1st Place
Hall of Fame basketball coach Bobby Knight dies at 83
Pat Beane, WFIU/WTIU News
2nd Place
Deadly storms hit south central Indiana
George Hale, WFIU/WTIU News
RADIO SPORTS REPORTING
1st Place
100 years at the Bloomington Speedway
Ethan Sandweiss, WFIU/WTIU News
2nd Place
Coverage of Bobby Knight’s death at age 83
Pat Beane, WFIU/WTIU News
RADIO IN-DEPTH REPORTING
3rd Place
What fueled Indiana’s slate of anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2023?
Lauren Chapman, Indiana Public Broadcasting News
RADIO FEATURE STORY
3rd Place
End-of-life doulas are working to make conversations about death easier
Sara Wittmeyer, WFIU/WTIU News
RADIO CONTINUING COVERAGE
2nd Place
State lawmakers target funding for IU’s Kinsey Institute
Ethan Sandweiss, WFIU/WTIU News
3rd Place
Coverage of the ripple effects in Indiana of the UAW strikes
Adam Yahya Rayes and Tony Sandleben, Indiana Public Broadcasting News
BEST ONLINE MULTIMEDIA
3rd Place
Paper Cuts: When private equity firms control local newspapers
Staff, WFIU/WTIU News
BEST PODCAST
2nd Place
Rush to Kill
George Hale, Cathy Knapp and Sara Wittmeyer, WFIU/WTIU News
BEST NEWSCAST (Outside Indianapolis market)
1st Place
Indiana Newsdesk
WTIU News
SERIOUS FEATURE STORY (Outside Indianapolis market)
3rd Place
Billboard ban would be a big loss for Bloomington man
Cali Lichter, WFIU/WTIU News
DOCUMENTARY OR SPECIAL (Outside Indianapolis market)
3rd Place
IU Women’s Basketball: Rising to the Top
Pat Beane and WTIU News
BUSINESS OR CONSUMER AFFAIRS REPORTING (Outside Indianapolis Market)
3rd Place
Digital coupons leave seniors and low-income shoppers behind
Sara Wittmeyer and Devan Ridgway, WFIU/WTIU News
GENERAL NEWS OR SPORTS VIDEOGRAPHY (All Indiana Stations)
1st Place
The National Model Aviation Museum
Saddam Abbas Al-Zubaidi, WTIU
FEATURES NEWS VIDEOGRAPHY (All Indiana Stations)
1st Place
A Timeless Medium: A Century of 16mm
Saddam Abbas Al-Zubaidi, WTIU
COVERAGE OF CHILDREN’S ISSUES (All Indiana Stations)
3rd Place
New standards for treating childhood obesity published, but advocates call for more
Bente Bouthier, WFIU/WTIU News
COVERAGE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES (All Indiana Stations)
3rd Place
Uncertainty lingers around Indiana’s abortion ban as litigation continues
Bente Bouthier, WFIU/WTIU News
ELECTION AND CAMPAIGN COVERAGE (All Indiana Stations)
2nd Place
2023 Bloomington Democratic Mayoral Debate
WFIU/WTIU News
ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING (All Indiana Stations)
1st Place
Aquaculture beneficial for farmers and environment, yet growth stagnates domestically
Clayton Baumgarth, WFIU/WTIU News
2nd Place
Lack of data leaves Indiana doctors unprepared for tick diseases
Rebecca Thiele and Alan Mbathi, Indiana Public Broadcasting News
MEDICAL OR SCIENCE REPORTING (All Indiana Stations)
3rd Place
Dealers mix fentanyl with horse tranquilizer, adding more risk to deadly drug
Ethan Sandweiss, WFIU/WTIU News
LIGHT FEATURE STORY (Outside Indianapolis market)
1st Place
A Timeless Medium: A Century of 16mm
Saddam Abbas Al-Zubaidi, WTIU