Where We Live, WNPR's daily news/talk show was honored with a national award by Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI) at the organization's annual conference in Washington DC. The PRNDI awards are the only national awards for public radio journalists - and one of the few national awards to feature categories for talk shows.
The first place award was given for a show produced in 2007 about the issue of gender identity. The program brought together a performance artist, who told stories about his misguided attempt to "cure" himself of his homosexuality, and a transgendered woman, who told stories of her lifelong desire to change herself from a man into a woman. The program was edgy and insightful, and presented to our audience the voices of people we often don't hear - both of them dealing with the issue of personal change and acceptance.
It also centered on pending legislation at the state capitol, providing stronger civil rights for gay and lesbian citizens, but excluding those in the transgendered community. The discussion prompted powerful listener calls....including one from a state lawmaker, who learned of this legal loophole by listening to our show.
This program, as with all of the episodes of Where We Live, was the result of the collaboration of supremely talented and curious journalists.
Congratulations to the team that works so hard each day on Where We Live - it's founding producers George Goodrich and Diane Orson, producer Melissa Blanksteen, senior producer Catie Talarski, all of our amazing interns, and the rest of the news staff which supports their efforts, and contributes to this success. Special thanks to Chion Wolf, who sold this difficult show idea to me (it wasn't easy) and made us all believe it could work. Finally, thank you to Kim Grehn for allowing us to tell these stories.
These people all prove - and the award validates - that a commitment to open minded, thoughtful journalism is our organization's greatest currency.
jd
