KUNM news staff took home dozens of awards this year for radio coverage ranging from podcasts to breaking news. The awards are especially notable after a year of immense challenges where reporters struggled to keep communities informed on COVID-19 and racist violence, while also staying safe and measuring their own pandemic challenges. This year of loss culminated in November with the death of Interim News Director Hannah Colton. Colton is among those awarded, taking home 8 awards this year between the Society for Professional Journalists and New Mexico Press Women.
Other winners include Nash Jones, Megan Kamerick, Ty Bannerman, Yasmin Khan, and Marisa Demarco and Khalil Ekulona for their work on No More Normal.
Find links to all of KUNM’s award-winning stories at KUNM.org.
From the Society of Professional Journalists:
– Breaking News Story
Second Place; Guns, Threats and Insults At Roundhouse Rally To Support Trump; Marisa Demarco
– Breaking News Story
Third Place; Protester Shot After Militiamen Raise Tensions At Oñate Monument; Hannah Colton
– Business: News
First Place; Local Restaurants Weather New Round Of Restrictions As State Association Pushes Back; Nash Jones
– Business: Feature
First Place; Historic LGBTQ Club 'The SOCH' Launches Campaign To Avoid Closure; Nash Jones
– Education: Feature
First Place; Let's Talk Remote Learning And The Digital Divide; Hannah Colton
– Sports: Feature
First Place; YNMG & COVID: Sports Sports Sports; Khalil Ekulona, Marisa Demarco
– Mental Health: News
First Place; Community Calls On APS To Do More About Student Suicides; Nash Jones
– Mental Health: Feature
Second Place; No More Normal: Mental Wellness Khalil Ekulona, Marisa Demarco, Yasmin Khan
– Education: News
First Place; Charter Schools Seek Higher Ed Money To Keep Serving Adults; Hannah Colton
– Health: Feature
First Place; Navajo Student and Journalist Shines Light On Elders In The Pandemic; Megan Kamerick
– General Reporting- Series or Package
Second Place ; Essential, Not Treated Like It - Khalil Ekulona, Yasmin Khan, Marisa Demarco, Nash Jones
– Pandemic Reporting
Third Place; YNMG & COVID: The People Beyond The Numbers; Khalil Ekulona, Marisa Demarco
– Social Justice Reporting
First Place; Protester Shot After Militiamen Raise Tensions At Oñate Monument; Mother Of Man Shot: 'We Want To Leverage This Situation For Change'; Hannah Colton
– Feature: Long form
First Place; Rio Rancho Resident Holds Daily BLM Protests For A Month; Nash Jones
– Feature: Long form
Second Place; Let's Talk Voter Suppression And Voting Rights; Yasmin Khan
– Feature: Long form
Third Place; Unsheltered Amid The Pandemic: One Man's Experience With Police In ABQ; Hannah Colton
– Science and Technology: Feature
First Place; Let's Talk Women In Science And Tech; Hannah Colton
– Podcast
Second Place; Your NM Government; Marisa Demarco, Khalil Ekulona, Hannah Colton
Third Place; No More Normal: Marisa Demarco, Khalil Ekulona, Yasmin Khan, Megan Kamerick, Gene Grant
From New Mexico Press Women
– Let’s Talk Monuments and Reckoning with Colonial Histories;
Second Place; Ty Bannerman
– Protester Shot After Militiamen Raise Tensions At Oñate Monument;
First Place; Hannah Colton
– No More Normal: The Streets Are Hot;
First Place; Hannah Colton, Marisa Demarco, Khalil Ekulona, Megan Kamerick
– The Real Crime;
Second Place; Marisa Demarco, Khalil Ekulona
– Guns, Threats And Insults At Roundhouse Rally To Support Trump;
Honorable Mention; Marisa Demarco
– Black N.M. Movement Objects To News Coverage And Police Response At Filling Philly’s:
Honorable Mention; Marisa Demarco
– Growing Forward: A podcast about cannabis in New Mexico;
First Place; Megan Kamerick
– New Mexico and the Vote;
First Place; Megan Kamerick
– Sculptor Creates Large-Scale Commentaries On Nature And The Environment;
First Place; Megan Kamerick
Organization Sweepstakes winners are: Third Place (tie): KUNM Radio, Navajo Times. PMJA Awards to be Announced on Thursday, June 25.
