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WNIN- Overall Excellence

With everything from an exploding train, a Presidential visit and even a trip to France, 2018 was a great year for news at WNIN.

Once merely a pass through for NPR programming, WNIN is now a vital community resource, producing high quality, local journalism that reflects the community in which we live.

We pride ourselves on finding the most interesting angles and handling them well. For example, what could have been a normal business story on local progress became a unique look on whether that progress is sustainable. Coverage of an important, but underreported piece of local history became a story of a family’s love over generations that gained recognition for a soldier’s sacrifice. Coverage of a police shooting became an exclusive look at how the crime of a trusted court expert could impact the outcome of the case against the suspect shot by police. The list goes on.

As we work on production for season three of our bilingual podcast, we included a 2018 segment of a woman who learned of her Mexican heritage only as an adult. Skillful storytelling tempers an otherwise intense story by learning what was hiding behind her grandfather’s workbench.

In September, WNIN broke the story of a federal lawsuit against the University of Evansville. The suit alleged racial and sexual harassment in the nationally recognized theater arts program at UE. The program has produced such stars as “Bohemian Rhapsody” actor Rami Malek. Before reporter Isaiah Seibert broke the story, the university had taken no action for months in the case. Soon after, a tenured professor in the theater department was first suspended, then fired.

Interesting stories. Important stories. Well told.

As a small, community licensed public station, the strength to produce the journalism showcased in the attached entry comes through diversity.  That diversity is achieved by deliberate mentoring of strong candidates of color within our local university systems. Even with just five full-time employees, WNIN looks like our community. Two of the five are millennial women of color who both have on-air roles. One is also in a leadership role as our programming and operations manager.

We hope you enjoy listening to the stories in this entry as much as we enjoyed producing them. We ask for your support of the high honor of an Edward R. Murrow award.

Entry Rundown:

:00-1:04  Breaking News- Train derailment and explosion at Princeton, Indiana, that happened on a Sunday evening in June about 30 miles north of Evansville.

1:05-10:21 Documentary- Chester and Gertrude (At War) Excerpt of multi-year reporting project on an important piece of local history.

10:24-12:03 Continuing Coverage- Federal lawsuit against the University of Evansville, alleging racial and sexual harassment in its nationally recognized theater arts program.

12:05-15:05 Hard News- Following a police shooting in 2018, an exclusive follow up on a year-long investigation into the impact of the crime of a trusted court expert that could affect the outcome in the shooting incident.

15:07-23:28- Bilingual podcast- ¿Qué Pasa Midwest? episode on finding identity, as well as what was behind her grandfather’s workbench.

23:30-29:35 Feature- The local March for Our Lives event was held in a driving rain. Combining sound from the event with a recorded interview, we were able to provide insight as well as information on the important issue of gun violence.

29:37-30:40 Presidential Coverage- Spot story behind the scenes at a Donald Trump fundraiser.

30:43-35:24 Election Coverage- Day after local coverage of the 2018 election.

35:26- 39:18 Business Series (Excerpt) - A unique view on progress in Evansville that aired during the grand opening of a new medical school and health sciences center in the downtown area.

39:20-47:26 Newscast- On a day of severe weather in June, significant breaking news, local government coverage and features.