RTDNA21 is described as “a brand-new news leadership retreat unlike any conference you’ve been to before. It’s all about community, connection, service and leadership.” In 2021, the organization is celebrating The Year of the Team with two major pillars: Representation and Resilience at the annual conference set for Sept. 23-24 in Denver.
Reporter Safety A Story That Won’t Go Away
Since attacks on journalists dramatically escalated last year, station groups have tightened safety protocols and veteran reporters are going into potentially volatile environments with escape routes at the ready. Even after 2020’s violent crescendo, journalists must be constantly vigilant against threats that “can happen spontaneously,” says Ruschell Boone, a reporter with NY1.
The storytelling formula adopted across the local TV news industry looks similar to what’s been used for generations. Yet the possibilities for innovation are growing by the day. For several years now, an RTDNA research project, Reinventing Local TV News (RLTVN), has been looking at this gap between practice and possibility.
The storytelling formula adopted across the local TV news industry looks similar to what’s been used for generations. Yet the possibilities for innovation are growing by the day. For several years now, an RTDNA research project, Reinventing Local TV News (RLTVN), has been looking at this gap between practice and possibility.
More Stations Produced More Local News In 2020
Local radio and television news played an essential role during 2020 in keeping communities informed during COVID, a nationwide racial reckoning and a treacherous election cycle. The first installment of the annual RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Newsroom Survey shows that despite facing revenue shortfalls, budget cuts and unprecedented operational challenges, more local TV news aired in 2020 than ever recorded by the long running survey.
Exclusives
RTDNA today announced the regional winners of the 2021 Edward R. Murrow Awards. More than 750 awards recognize over 350 local radio and television stations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and four countries. This year, the awards added Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a new category.
During the past year, the job of seeking and reporting the truth became increasingly dangerous. Journalists were threatened, assaulted and arrested at an alarming rate while on the job. We faced unprecedented levels of verbal and physical violence at the hands of civilians, police and the leaders we are meant to hold accountable. Every year, RTDNA releases data from a survey of broadcast newsrooms from across the country. This year, for the first time in our history, the report compiled by the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University included a section on media safety. Our research team wanted to understand how repeated, targeted acts of violence have impacted newsrooms across the country. The responses were alarming.
Years of anti-journalist rhetoric trumpeted by those in power has caused a dramatic and disturbing increase in attacks on the media. News organizations large and small are taking security measures they never thought would be necessary in this country. In 2020, RTDNA introduced its Five-Point Policy Framework, designed to strengthen the role journalists and journalism play in a healthy democracy. In line with this framework, RTDNA has identified two legislative priorities in 2021 that will ensure journalists can continue to seek and report the truth on behalf of the public safely.
No Time For Complacency By Journalists
It is a welcome respite, to no longer hear terms such as “fake news” and “enemy of the people” emanating from the White House. But this is no time for complacency among journalists across the country who work hard every day to serve their communities by seeking and reporting the truth. There are still major challenges that need to be addressed.
Journalism published by radio, television and digital news organizations as well as by student journalists between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, is eligible for entry.
It was a year unlike any other in most of our lifetimes, and RTDNA wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank the journalists who have gone above and beyond this year.
Among networks, CBS News took home six awards, NBC News four, with ABC News winning for overall excellence in network TV. Among station goups, E.W. Scripps posted six awards, Nexstar four. Here’s the complete list of national winners.
2020 National Murrow Awards To Be Announced Live
The percentage of people of color in local TV news reached a record high for the third year in a row. However, the percentage of people of color in the local TV workforce is up just 0.7 percentage points, and the gap in representation is down just 0.2 percentage points. In the last 30 years, the percentage of people of color among the U.S. population overall is up 13.4 points, but just 8.8 among the local TV new workforce. The representation gap, which widened after 2005, has been shrinking slowly the last four years.
Fix the Court, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the Society of Professional Journalists have joined with more than two dozen groups to ask Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to continue to provide live audio of its oral arguments.
Selected from a record of more than 5,000, these 750 regional winners represent the best in local broadcast news. The winning work includes 36 podcasts, a new category for 2020, along with nearly 50 investigative reports and more than 100 examples of excellence in innovation, social media and multimedia.
The ongoing coronavirus crisis has universally disrupted newsrooms, and most local TV news directors expect the disruption to be long-lasting. A special edition of the RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey details the impacts of COVID-19 on local TV news stations throughout the country as they strive to provide their communities the best coverage possible, but struggle with production challenges and potential economic effects.
A thank-you from RTDNA Executive Director: Dear Fellow Journalists: The communities where you live and work owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude. Most of us got into journalism to serve the public. Now more than ever your public service is important. Stay motivated, stay safe and continue asking questions and reporting stories that will our communities get through this time of uncertainty.”
In addition to the refreshed look, the association plans new and updated resources on RTDNA.org, expanded in-person and online training opportunities and a redesigned curriculum at its annual conference.
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and the Radio Television Digital News Association will partner to conduct the association’s annual Newsroom Survey. The survey, established in 1972, represents the only […]
RTDNA adds podcast and feature-length documentary categories for next year’s journalism competition.
RTDNA presented more than 120 awards to professional and student journalists Monday night. The over 4,600 entries set a record. Dan Shelley, RTDNA executive director: “Celebrate these examples of outstanding responsible journalism. Then, return to your newsrooms to continue the never-ending task of seeking and reporting the truth. Nothing less than the future of our society demands it.”
Inspiration from creative, interactive award-winning journalism.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is leading a coalition of 38 media organizations, including RTDNA, in arguing against the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed changes to its Freedom of Information Act regulations.
Godfrey, who served as one of RTNDA’s final elected presidents in 1984, died June 18 in Louisville, Ky., several months after being injured in a fall. He was 88. Godfrey’s legacy includes leadership on a number of pivotal regulatory issues, including, perhaps most notably, the effort to abolish the Fairness Doctrine.
From more than 4,600 entries, these awards recognize 100 local and network radio, television and digital news organizations for 122 examples of outstanding journalism in 16 categories. The winners at the national level also include Student Murrow Awards in five categories of audio, video and digital reporting.
The sun is shining a little brighter in the Sunshine State, thanks to a pair of mid-May court rulings in cases involving press freedom in which the RTDNA Voice of the First Amendment Task Force has been involved.
The veteran CBS newsman will be recognized for a lifetime of achievement and service to the profession of broadcast and digital journalism on Friday, Sept. 6, at Excellence in Journalism 2019 in San Antonio, Texas.
