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2nd Place WYPR 88.1
Sheilah Kast Marc Steiner

The listener might at first think a talk show about one of WYPR's talk shows would be self-serving at best and a conflict of interest at worst. Sheilah Kast, however does a beautiful balancing act as she tackles what must have been a difficult interview with her own boss. In any case, Kast is a joy to listen to.

3rd Place WYPR
Midday with Dan Rodricks, "Capital Punishment"

Commentary

1st Place WYPR
Jennifer Chang Mei Hong Lou - The Beautiful Red Building

This is everything a radio commentary should be. It's intimate but spans a broad scope of the immigrant American experience. The delivery is touching and personal, but not sappy. It sounds almost improvised by the speaker, but is well structured and narrative. Once you hear the start, "My grandmother doesn't know what day she was born...."you're compelled to see where this is going and the listener is rewarded with a literary, epic and relevant six minutes of radio. The story of the building is really the locus of a family's--and, to some degree, an immigrant population's--struggle through a defining, tumultuous time in American history, spoken in Chinese, but interpreted through the very astute and creative voice of a succeeding generation. This is the kind of piece that takes a local touchstone--in this case a few thousand square feet of store front--and fills in the tragedies and triumphs that explain why and how we all got to be here.

2nd Place WYPR
Tom Hall Religious Music and Intolerance

This is a very thoughtful talk show connected to a choral concert by the Kings College choir. The host and guests are exceptionally knowledgeable and they provide a good context for those times when beautiful and important music crosses into politically troubling territory.

3rd Place WYPR
Fraser Smith Art Murphy Obit

Specialty Reporting

1st Place WYPR
Joel McCord Chesapeake Summer "Occasional series"

Joel McCord goes to different scenes on the water to provide vivid snapshots of quintessential Chesapeake vignettes. He also uses these familiar touchstones of Maryland bay life to introduce broader contextual issues regarding the status of sea life and a way of life. The reporter fully exploits the power of radio with rich sound beds, ambiance and audio punctuation. He has a good delivery and talent for setting scenes. He's also able to collect and edit interviews effectively for maximum effect. The reporter put in a lot of work conceiving, collecting and producing these stories and listeners benefit.

3rd Place WYPR
Nathan Sterner Hiking the Gwynns Falls Trail

Public Service Reporting

1st Place WYPR
Mary Rose Madden, Stephanie Marudes, Donna Marie Owens
Women Fighting Violence

This series tackles violent crime from the perspective of mothers and
grandmothers. The reporting is unique, timely and relevant. Overall the series of four reports provides an eye-opening and fresh take on an otherwise well-worn path. There's also a lot to praise in the individual stories. The first piece on the stage production has wonderful voices providing a telling perspective. The second piece uses descriptive writing and intimate interviews to explore
the frustrations some women face when they must raise their grandchildren. The series' climax is the sound captured by Mary Rose Madden in her ride-along with warrant officers. She brings listeners to the front porches and living rooms of families as they interact with police looking for their sons and brothers. Madden lays the groundwork with standard reporting of statistics and trends, but nails home the point with the voices of real people as they confront
a sad reality. She lets the sound tell the story in a way no reporter or
spokesman could. You can argue all reporting provides a public service. This reporting gives the public a rare, intimate glimpse of a vital issue and provides the perspective people can use to better understand and act on it.

2nd Place - WYPR
Tom Hall Surviving Prostate Cancer

Hall's personal connection to the issue brings the subject an added relevance. The interview subject is informed and clear with up-to-date and valuable insights with clear, specific actions men need to take to prevent cancer.

General Reporting

This was the most difficult category to judge. The winners and those not making the top three are all grouped together very tightly, with very little in the way of quality separating them. All of these are worthy reports that make it clear this listening public is blessed. We wish we could have awarded 5 first places.

1st Place - WYPR
Sunni Khalid Violence Prevention unit, 2 parts

Khalid's two-part look at violent prevention--at least partly from the angle of the offenders themselves. This provides riveting quotes and an unusual humanizing perspective from an easily demonized part of the population. Khalid writes descriptively and his presentation is evenly paced and easy to listen to. The ambience and other audio enhances the story, never detracts or distracts. The first installment of the series pointedly portrays the frustration of people trying to make a difference with only limited support. This is combined with the second installment which gives a broader overview and hammers more on policy implications. Taken together this is a powerful one-two punch that the public, elected leaders and law enforcement officials can all learn from.

3rd Place - WYPR
Sarah Richards  Homeless Shelter for Muslim Women

Who knew there was such a thing? Good recording.  Interesting topic.

Documentary

2nd Place - WYPR
68: The Fire Last Time, 5 part series
Deborah George, Mary Rose Madden, Fraser Smith, Sunni Khalid

A very comprehensive retrospective using voices of people remembering 1968 with the backdrop of radio hits of the time.