Arts and Entertainment

WPSU earns regional Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in innovation

Cross-platform media project, “Reasons to Stay,” shares local community members’ stories

State College resident Jason Browne shared his story on WPSU's "Reasons to Stay." Credit: Frank Christopher/WPSU Penn StateAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — WPSU Penn State’s cross-platform media project, “Reasons to Stay,” has won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. The project, which explores the reasons why Centre County residents may live in or leave central Pennsylvania through first-person storytelling, was recognized in the new Excellence in Innovation category.

“Reasons to Stay” utilizes a custom-built web platform to feature community members’ stories through a combination of videos, audio, photos, text and interactive graphics. The new award category recognized organizations that innovated their product to enhance the quality of journalism and the audience’s understanding of the news.

Visit the “Reasons to Stay” website to explore stories from Centre County community members.

"The project’s multimedia approach let us delve into people's stories in a really immersive way,” said Emily Reddy, WPSU-FM’s news director and one of the project’s leaders. “It focuses on people who are grappling with the high turnover of the area. They're deciding whether they should stay or go, or they're the stalwarts who are trying to convince others they should stick around.”

WPSU Penn State profiled students, young professionals, townspeople, business owners and community members for the project. The interactive approach of the website allows visitors to decide which stories to view and for how long.

The regional Murrow award was WPSU’s first since 2015. The station competes alongside small digital news organizations in the RTDNA region that includes New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The RTDNA received nearly 4,300 entries in 2017 and awarded 751 regional Edward R. Murrow Awards in 16 categories.

As a regional winner, “Reasons to Stay” advances to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards competition. National awards will be presented at the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City on Oct. 9. The RTDNA recognizes the best electronic journalism produced by radio, television and digital news organizations.

Visit the WPSU Penn State website to view “Reasons to Stay.” 

Credit: WPSU Penn State / Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated April 26, 2017

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