Photographers Are Helping Newspapers Win Prestigious Awards
An enduring legacy of broadcasting hero Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) is the prestigious Murrow award, a highly sought-after honor bestowed by a media association with a name that starts with “Radio.”
As traditional print brands excel at digital delivery of information, newspapers are winning Edward R. Murrow Awards.
The Boston Globe newspaper won two national Murrow awards, including one for overall excellence among large digital news organizations. The Globe’s sister outlet STAT won four, more than any other small digital news organization.
The national 2025 Edward R. Murrow awards were announced August 14 by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). Winners included The Washington Post.
Outlets with a traditional print history are winning Murrow and Emmy awards because:
- Award programs recognize online content. The Guardian’s online presence in the U.S. (Guardian US) won a Murrow Award for its coverage of climate change.
- Media convergence.
- Collaboration on submissions to media contests. The Associated Press credited 10 photographers on its winning submission Lethal Restraint, produced with PBS Frontline and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism.
The Washington Post won 2025 Murrow Awards for excellence in video and sound, as well as awards for sports and hard news. The Post’s award-winning submission in the sound category was an episode from its “Post Reports” that tells the story of multi-national tensions in the South China Sea: A voyage into the world’s most contested waterway.
“Through the use of tape including our reporter’s raw voice memo diaries, it brought audiences right into this story and highlights the humanity behind big geopolitical conflicts,” says Renita Jablonski, director of audio at The Washington Post.
Jablonski joined The Post in 2021; she previously worked at Spotify.
Data and Visual Journalism
Broadcast networks and local stations continue to win most Edward R. Murrow Awards, which feature explicit categories for television and radio.
But winning entries in broadcast categories can rely on multimedia components to tell complex stories on the air and online. CBS News won an Edward R. Murrow Award for innovation for its poignant report, Unmade beds and overdue books: Photographing the rooms of kids killed in school shootings.
“The families of eight school shooting victims opened their doors to Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp, allowing them to document their children’s bedrooms, just as they left them. Each room waits for a child who will not return,” the CBS report said.
The network’s credit box starts with photography, followed by photo retouching, reporting, visual design, development, and more. Visual Data Journalist Taylor Johnston’s role involved the website and coding.
Emmy Awards
Newspapers also win Emmy Awards. On June 21, Central Great Lakes Emmys announced this year’s winners for media markets in northern Ohio, central and northern Indiana, and Erie, Pennsylvania. Pulitzer Prize winner Mykal McEldowney of The Indianapolis Star won the regional Emmy Award for public affairs programming for his video chronicling a cold case saga.
Photojournalist McEldowney has won regional Emmy Awards for three consecutive years, building on a trend advanced by media convergence. Emmy Awards are sponsored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
“Our news gathering partners in broadcast know how to tell video stories extremely well, so when I can compete with them it makes me proud,” says McEldowney, who was trained as a photographer; he joined The Indianapolis Star in 2015.
About the author: Ken Klein lives in Silver Spring, Maryland; he is retired after a career in politics, lobbying, and media including The Associated Press and Gannett in Florida. Klein is an alumnus of Ohio University and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Scripps College of Communication. Professionally, he has worked for Fort Myers News-Press (Gannett), The Associated Press (Tallahassee), Senator Bob Graham, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.