WHYY receives 4 Murrow Awards for reporting on COVID, health equity

WHYY News on Tuesday received four Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association. The awards honor “outstanding achievements” in multimedia journalism and range in coverage topics from racial equity in health care to the coronavirus pandemic.

WHYY News was awarded the honors in a region encompassing large-market stations in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Regional winners will move on to the national round of the competition. Those winners will be announced this summer.

WHYY News’ Avi Wolfman-Arent received an award in the Feature Reporting category for a story about a single mom’s fight to keep her kids in school and her family together during the pandemic.

“I’m very proud of the WHYY news team for their hard work and dedication to covering these important stories,” said Melony Roy, News and Digital Director. “We are honored to be recognized, but our biggest reward is serving the Philadelphia region.”

For the Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion category. WHYY health equity fellow Sojourner Ahébée won an award for her reporting on how a clinical tool meant to predict kidney function could be hurting Black patients.

In the Investigative Reporting category, WHYY and Billy Penn — specifically, reporters Max Marin, Nina Feldman, and Alan Yu — were honored for their reporting on the Philly Fighting COVID scandal.

WHYY News’ Susan Phillips also took home an award in the Hard News category, for reporting on Jersey Shore’s fishing industry, and whether it can coexist with planned massive wind farms.

A full list of Murrow Award winners can be found online.