More than 5,000 entries from hundreds of digital and broadcast network journalism organizations and colleges competed for the 2025 National Edward R. Murrow Awards. Marshall students competed with other broadcasting students from colleges and universities across the United States.
“Our radio students have established a tradition at WMUL-FM of being able to successfully compete at the national level with other student-operated college radio stations,” said Dr. Chuck G. Bailey, professor of Radio-Television Production and Management in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University and faculty manager of WMUL-FM. “This year marks WMUL-FM’s first entry into the Edward R. Murrow National Awards.
“This performance in the Edward R. Murrow National Awards against the cream of the crop in college radio is clear evidence of the outstanding quality of work performed by our talented broadcasting students at WMUL-FM, the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the College of Arts and Media and Marshall University,” Bailey said.
“During a year of seemingly unending challenges to factual reporting and the business dynamics of our industry, the journalists responsible for these winning entries stood out as exemplifying the very best of our craft,” said RTDNA President and CEO Dan Shelley. “I and all of us at RTDNA are proud of them for their extraordinary service to their communities, their nations and the world.”
This year’s Murrow awards celebrated outstanding journalism produced in 2024, a history-making year that included the 2024 presidential election, an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, a late-campaign candidate shakeup, catastrophic flooding in multiple parts of the United States, wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and more.
“These honorees show what’s still possible in our industry — journalism so powerful and compelling it draws you in, illuminates and inspires,” said RTDNA Chair Colin Benedict, vice president of news at Morgan Murphy Media. “This is the true value so many journalists provide to the communities we serve every day.”
Along with the National Winners, RTDNA recognized students from five universities as recipients of National Student Murrow awards won in 2025, including Marshall, Montclair State, Nebraska, North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and Syracuse.
The Radio Television Digital News Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. The CBS News legend’s pursuit of excellence embodies the spirit of the awards that carry his name.
The first-place national award-winning entry by WMUL-FM is:
Excellence in Audio Newscast for the “5:00 p.m. Edition of Newscenter 88” broadcast on Oct. 31, 2024. The students who participated in this 30-minute newscast were: producer Peyton Cisco, a junior from Mingo; anchor Emma Johnson, a senior from Peach Creek; anchor Waylon Smith, a recent graduate from Ashland, Ky.; weather reporter Emily Grady, a sophomore from Buffalo; and sports reporter Nate Courtney, a senior from Fairfax, Virginia.
For more information about Marshall’s W. Page Pitt School of Journalism, visit www.marshall.edu/jmc.
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