For the second year in a row, ABC News has won the Edward R. Murrow Award of Excellence.
“These wins mean so much to us because the awards recognize the hard work of every single person that works at ABC News across all our platforms,” writes ABC News president James Goldston, in a note to staff. “The honor reflects your commitment to excellence in journalism and storytelling- and working as a team to make it all possible.”
ABC News Radio also won the Overall Excellence award, the Breaking News Coverage award for the shooting at Ft. Hood, and two more awards for Writing and Sports Reporting.
CBS News earned the most Murrow Awards with seven – for Breaking News, Continuing Coverage, News Series, Newscast, Use of Video, Writing and Best Website.
NBC’s Today show won for Hard News and Sports Reporting. Al Jazeera America took the award for News Documentary, and CNN won for Investigative Reporting. NBC News had won the Award of Excellence four years running from 2009-2012
Here’s the full list of 2015 winners and below is Goldston’s note to staff:
Team,
I’m extremely proud to announce that ABC News has won the most prestigious Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence in Television and Overall Excellence in Radio for the second year in a row – an historic first for the network.
The RTDNA judges awarded ABC News with its two highest achievements praising the breadth and depth of our journalism as having “top-notch” daily news coverage, “extremely creative” special programming and feature work and “outstanding” writing. For the fourth year in a row we were also awarded five awards in total.
These wins mean so much to us because the awards recognize the hard work of every single person that works at ABC News across all our platforms. The honor reflects your commitment to excellence in journalism and storytelling- and working as a team to make it all possible.
It was a year of extraordinary stories around the globe – the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, the police shooting and riots in Ferguson, the crisis in the Middle East in Gaza and Israel, our breaking news coverage on Malaysia Airlines Flights 17 and 370, the revolution in Ukraine and the rise of and battle against ISIS – to name a few.
ABC News’ anchors conducted interviews with the biggest newsmakers, including an exclusive sit down with Officer Darren Wilson and the first interview with Hillary Clinton on her book. Our investigative team produced game-changing investigations on highway guard rails and recalls. Our Global Affairs Team showed our long-term commitment to telling the stories of men and women who have returned home from a war zone and what they live through each day. We travelled to the Syrian border to cover the child refugees working to support their families. And created a compelling special, “Young Guns,” that spurred a nationwide dialogue.
I want to extend a special congratulations to Radio for a banner year – winning three more Murrow awards. Radio stations count on ABC News Radio when news breaks. The radio team works tirelessly with unmatched production and groundbreaking reporting every day. RTDNA recognized Radio for Breaking News – The Shooting at Fort Hood, Brad Mielke for Sports – Spartan Racing and Writing – Scott Goldberg.
Thank you for all that you do. Your unwavering passion, commitment and teamwork drives us forward every day.
Onwards to an exciting year ahead.
James