Local television stations owned by The E.W. Scripps Company serving a city in Montana and Virginia’s state capital, respectively, have earned prestigious 2023 National Edward R. Murrow Awards.
KTVQ in Billings, Montana, won in the small-market television category of “hard news” for “Surviving the Aftermath” – coverage that documented the devastation and rebuild efforts across Montana following 2022’s historic flooding in Yellowstone National Park. The series focused on the small town of Gardiner, Montana, a gateway community to the park that found itself cut off from its lifeline. Over the course of three days, the Billings news team featured 22 communities in the market that were impacted by the floods, documenting the damage and highlighting the resiliency of Montanans.
This is the second National Murrow Award KTVQ has won in four years, having won “Feature Reporting” in 2020.
WTVR in Richmond, Virginia, won in the small-market television category of “news series,” for “The Serial Snipers: 20 Years Later.” The winning work revisited a string of sniper-style shootings across Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. in the fall of 2002. At the end of the nearly month-long rampage, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo killed 10 people and injured three more. While many parts of the sniper investigation played out in the public eye, there were behind-the-scenes details not released. Over the course of several weeks, the CBS6 team investigated and shared previously untold accounts from people tasked with protecting Central Virginia and who helped crack this case twenty years ago.
This is the third National Murrow Award WTVR has won in four years. The CBS6 team won “Sports Reporting” in 2022 and “Overall Excellence” in 2020.
The Murrow Awards are among the most prestigious accolades in the news industry, celebrating local and national journalism that aligns with the RTDNA Code of Ethics, showcases technical prowess and underscores the significance and influence of journalism as a community service. The honored work echoes the excellence that Edward R. Murrow established as the gold standard in broadcast news.
