NEWS

WUNC-FM news staff wins awards for ice storm coverage, portraits of North Carolina’s unemployed

CHAPEL HILL -- WUNC-FM’s news staff has been recognized for its reporting on December’s ice storm and ongoing coverage of job losses in North Carolina during the current economic slowdown.

WUNC won first place in the Associated Press of North Carolina’s general news category for comprehensive reporting on the weather emergency of December 2002. The ice storm caused major statewide power outages and significantly disrupted the daily lives of many North Carolinians.

Leoneda Inge, Brent Wolfe and Rusty Jacobs received individual reporting honors from the Associated Press. Inge’s award was in the best use of sound category for her report "Farmers Wait for Rain." Wolfe’s piece, "Compounding Pharmacies," won the top spot in health reporting. (He also won the 2001 award in this category.) Jacobs received an honorable mention in sports reporting for a feature on the return of football at St. Augustine’s College.

WUNC’s news staff won a prestigious first-place Green Eyeshade Award from the Southeast regional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The series, "North Carolina Voices: Looking for Work," chronicled the lives of unemployed North Carolinians from various regional and economic backgrounds. It earned the top prize for feature reporting. Now the series moves on to national competition, with results expected this spring.

The society awarded second place to WUNC’s Jessica Jones in the non-deadline reporting category for her ongoing coverage of rising college tuition prices in North Carolina. Jacobs won third place in the sports reporting category.

"I’m extremely proud of the whole staff," news director Emily Hanford said. "These awards are great recognition for the excellent work they do year-round."

Inge also received a national award from the American Women in Radio and Television. Her report, "Out of Work: Mary Moore," part of the "North Carolina Voices: Looking for Work" series, earned her a Gracie Allen Award in the category of public radio programming news story/single entry.

Marie Brennan, executive director of American Women in Radio and Television, said that in a year with a record-breaking number of entries, Inge’s work "displayed superior quality in writing, production and programming." Inge will receive her award at a New York ceremony in June.

Jacobs won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards presented by the Radio-TV News Directors Association. He was recognized for his feature story on the December ice storm, "Durham Residents Still Without Power," and in the sports category for a report on Tar Heel men’s basketball, "UNC’s Historically Bad Season." His reports now go to national competition, with winners announced in June.

WUNC is the National Public Radio affiliate licensed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It operates a five-station radio network serving more than 250,000 weekly listeners from Greensboro to the Outer Banks. WUNC has the largest public radio news staff in North Carolina and produces public radio programs including "The State of Things" and "The People’s Pharmacy." WUNC can be heard at 91.5 FM in the Triangle and Triad, at 90.9 FM in the Rocky Mount/Wilson/Greenville area, and at 90.5 and 90.9 along the Outer Banks. WUNC is online at www.wunc.org.

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WUNC contact: Joan Siefert Rose, (919) 966-5454, jsrose@wunc.org
News Services contact: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593