Marshall journalism professor Dan Hollis and WMUL-FM, Marshall’s public radio station, were honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for the second year in a row by the Radio Television Digital News Association.
The Murrow Awards are the embodiment of the values, principles and standards set forth by Edward R. Murrow, a journalism pioneer who set the standards for the highest quality of broadcast journalism.
“To have my name associated with one of the preeminent journalists of all time is a tremendous honor,” Hollis said, “let alone to be recognized with all of the other outstanding journalists who received the awards this year.”
Hollis and WMUL-FM received the award in the “Excellence in Sound” category for small markets in Region 8. The announcement was made April 25. The category was open to radio stations in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
The piece that won was a radio story, “Bullriders,” about some of the competitors on the local rodeo circuit. The story aired on the 5 p.m. Edition of Newscenter 88.
“Those guys are a little crazy,” Hollis said, “but the atmosphere is crazier. The sound of the bulls, of the crowd and of the action made it fun to do.”
Hollis is a professor of broadcast journalism in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications and the 2012 West Virginia Professor of the Year as presented by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. His creative work can be seen on youtube.com/danhollisvideo.
As a regional winner, Hollis and WMUL-FM proceed to the national round with the 13 other regional winners. National winners will be announced in June.
The Radio Television Digital News Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Of the awards given to journalists, the Murrow Awards are among the most respected journalism awards in the world, according to the RTNDA.