The Radio and Television Digital News Association has awarded KBIA seven regional Edward R. Murrow awards in the 2019 competition. The awards recognize "the best electronic journalism produced by radio, television and online news organizations around the world."
The seven awards in 2019 account for the third highest total KBIA has received in a single year. It tied for the most of all small market radio stations in the country in this year's competition. In 2017 KBIA won 10 regional Murrows, the most of any small market radio station in the country that year. In 2018 the station won nine regional Murrows.
The 2019 awards are:
-Overall Excellence (the 5th year in a row KBIA has won this award in the regional competition). You can see the entry here.
-Website (the 7th year in a row KBIA has won this award in the regional competition)
-Hard News: Evaporating: Missouri Farmers Are Leaving the Dairy Industry
-News Documentary – Have We Backed Ourselves Into a Corner With Pesticides?
-Excellence in Innovation: Access Missouri.
-Use of Video: Life on the Spectrum: The Journey of Caregivers
The six awards above were in the small market radio station category for region 5. KBIA reporter Kristofor Husted also won a regional Murrow award in the region 5 large market radio category. According to the rules of the competition, his story had to be entered in that category because it was edited by an editor at Kansas City’s KCUR.
-News Series: How Prized Bull Semen and DNA Testing are Reshaping America's Beef Herd
There are 16 categories in each regional competition. KBIA's region includes Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. The entries in these seven categories will go on to the national competition against the winning entries from other regions. Those winners will be announced in June.
KBIA has won a national Edward R. Murrow award in each of the last 5 years, winning for Continuing Coverage in 2018, Excellence in Innovation in 2017, Best Website in 2016, Feature Reporting in 2015, and Best Website in 2014. A KBIA student reporter also won the national Student Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Audio Reporting in 2017.