WFYI Journalists Earn 14 SPJ Awards For Work In 2020

Holly Edgell

WFYI Public Media journalists earned more than a dozen awards from the Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for their work during the challenging year of 2020. Award-winners, named Tuesday night, were recognized for a wide range of work, including coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-racism protests.

Reporters, editors and producers for WFYI-TV, WFYI Radio and WFYI's regional public health reporting collaborative Side Effects Public Media were recognized by out-of-state judges selected by SPJ. Contest categories highlighted outstanding coverage across multiple platforms: radio, television, digital and social media. The winners were:

First place:

• Carter Barrett: Print & Digital Coverage for “Equity And Public Health”
• Jake Harper: Radio In-Depth Reporting for “The Pandemic's Impact Inside Indiana Prisons”
• Hilary Powell (in partnership with The Indianapolis Recorder): Print & Digital Coverage for “Pandemic's Impact On The Indianapolis Community”
• Kyle Travers: Television Coverage of Minority, Diversity & Inclusion for “Move To Include - Katrina Kelly”
• Bryan Boyd and Gabrielle Steenberger: Television Coverage of Social Justice Issues for “A Difficult Task”
• Lauren Chapman, Doug Jaggers, Jill Sheridan and Eric Weddle: Best Use of Social Media for “Indianapolis Social Justice Protests”
• Kyle Long: Best Podcast, for “Cultural Manifesto”

Second place:

• WFYI and The Indianapolis Recorder Staff for the Television Special, “Where Do We Go From Here? A Community Conversation”

Third place:

• Hilary Powell (in partnership with The Indianapolis Recorder): Print & Digital Coverage for “Investigating Health Equity in Indiana”
• WFYI Staff: Print & Digital Breaking News Reporting for “Indianapolis Social Justice Protests”
• Farah Yousry and Vinnie Manganello: Television Medical or Science Reporting for “Blood Sugar Rising: COVID-19 and Diabetes are a Dangerous Mix”
• Michael Husain and Jeremy Tatara: Television Criminal Justice Reporting for “No Harm - The Battle To Save IV Drug Users”
• Holly Edgell: Online Newsletter Award for “Side Effects Newsletter”
• Eric Weddle, Breaking News for "Indianapolis Social Justice Protests"

The awards program, shown online, featured a tribute to WFYI reporter Jill Ditmire, who died in January at age 56. Ditmire was awarded the Slaymaker Service to Journalism Award.

In addition, two new WFYI Public Media employees earned awards for work they completed before joining the organization. Reporter Dylan Peers McCoy won first place for her education reporting at Chalkbeat Indiana. Digital Editor Lindsey Erdody won first- and second-place honors for her work at the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Watch the entire awards program on YouTube