Reporters in the WORT News Department are finalists in the Milwaukee Press Club’s 93rd Annual Awards for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism. This year’s contest drew more than 900 entries from throughout Wisconsin in professional and collegiate categories, and entries were judged by professional journalists in other states.
WORT competed with large market broadcasters throughout Wisconsin. With five finalists, we’re thrilled and honored to be in such good company with news outlets across the state. Final placements (gold, silver, or bronze) will be announced on Friday, May 12, at the Gridiron Awards event in Milwaukee.
Here’s a recap:
🏆 Best Coverage of a Single or Ongoing Breaking News Story
Assistant News Director Nate Wegehaupt is a finalist for his ongoing accountability reporting in the police shooting of Quadren Wilson. Wilson was repeatedly shot during a traffic arrest in a police operation that involved twenty-one federal, state, and local police officers.
The shooting and inadequate medical care prompted significant community outcry and questions over why violent measures were necessary at all. Wegehaupt spoke with Wilson’s family, covered the shooting’s impact on local youth at a student walkout, continued to press elected officials for answers, and followed up when one officer was eventually charged.
🏆 Best Long Hard Feature Story
Reporting intern Reid Kamhi is a finalist for his reporting on Willy Street’s continued car crashes. The latest crash, into the Willy Street Treasure Shop, got us wondering – why do traffic incidents seem to happen so frequently on this particular street?
Kamhi, a summer reporting intern, tackled that question with gusto, speaking with owners and employees at affected businesses, elected officials, and traffic experts in the Madison Police Department and local neighborhood association.
🏆 Best Long Soft Feature Story
Reporter Catherine Garvens is a finalist for her reporting on the Great Wisconsin Bird-a-Thon, a two-month spring fundraiser for bird conservation. Teams participate in a walk-a-thon style event, but instead of logging miles, they log birds. Garvens profiled one team, and the cause they help support.
(Garvens has carved out a reporting beat in bird and wildlife ecology and conservation, and the Bird-a-Thon’s fundraising efforts appeared in a later story profiling efforts to save the rapidly declining Connecticut Warbler population.)
🏆 Best Regularly-Scheduled Audio Program
Meanwhile, Catherine Garvens is also a finalist for her in-depth feature profiling the Ice Age Trail, one of eleven national scenic trails in the US, winding its way through Wisconsin for over 1,000 miles.
She spoke with the people working to expand the trail and conserve the land that surrounds it, and picks up some natural history along the way.
As a host and producer on the Perpetual Notion Machine, WORT’s half-hour science news show, Garvens’ richly-reported, half-hour feature pushed the bounds of our regularly-scheduled programming.
🏆 Best Use of Audio Within a Report
Reporter Jonah Chester is a finalist for his use of audio while reporting on Silvesterchlausen, a traditional New Years celebration in Switzerland that found its way to the village of New Glarus.
Silvesterchlausen, pronounced sill-VEST-err-CLAUS-en, features traditional Swiss yodels, bells to ward off evil spirits, and pine-branch-adorned costumes.
