JPR reporters honored with journalism awards
Jefferson Public Radio reporters have been recognized for their journalism with recent honors from both the Edward R. Murrow Awards and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northwest Excellence in Journalism Awards.
JPR reporter Jane Vaughan won a regional Murrow Award for investigative reporting in the small-market radio division, competing against public and commercial radio stations throughout the Northwest. Her winning story, “Roseburg’s private homeless camps blur business and charity,” takes a close look at a commercial landowner that operates three city-authorized homeless camps.
The regional Murrow awards have been presented since 1971 by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) to recognize outstanding broadcast and online journalism. Regional Murrow winners are automatically entered in the national Edward R. Murrow competition.
JPR reporters were recognized with eight awards – including second place in the General Excellence in Radio category – in the Society of Professional Journalists contest, which recognizes outstanding reporting throughout Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
Reporter Justin Higginbottom won the first-place award in the Crime & Law Enforcement Reporting category for his story, “Lions, guns and meth: Inside the takedown of an Oregon roadside zoo,” about an interagency raid on a game park near Bandon. Higginbottom also was a first-place award in the Feature – Hard News category for his story, “Pineros in Southern Oregon: How Jackson County became a center for guest workers,” about how Jackson County accounts for more than a quarter of all non-logging forestry workers in the country who are in the U.S. on “guest worker” visas.
JPR’s Vanessa Finney won a first-place award in the LGBTQ+ Equity Reporting category for her story, “A place of their own: ‘Outliers and Outlaws’ in Eugene,” about the University of Oregon’s Eugene Lesbian History Project. Finney also won a third-place award in the Racial Equity Reporting category for “‘Aging While Black’ amplifies experiences of elderly Black Americans,” her piece on a national movement that amplifies the voices and experiences of Black elders and re-examines aging in the context of race.
Reporter Roman Battaglia won a second-place award in the Environment & Natural Disaster category for his story, “A biomass plant stands amidst a climate debate on the Northern California coast,” about a 40-year-old facility that burns wood waste to produce electricity in the tiny coastal town of Scotia, California. Battaglia won another second-place award in the Technology & Science Reporting category for his story, “In Arcata, anyone can fly planes and fight wildfires without leaving the library,” about the Hall of Simulation at the Cal Poly Humbolt library.
Reporters Mike Green and Natalie Golay won a third-place award in the Technology & Science Reporting category for their story, “Student engineers build custom car for four-year-old,” about engineering students at Henley High School in Klamath falls who designed and built a custom car as part of the national Go Baby Go initiative.
