The VPM News team received ten awards for excellence in reporting at the 2023 Virginias AP Broadcasters Awards. The winners were announced on March 23 during an awards luncheon at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
"The success of VPM News at this year's VAPBs achieves two victories: celebrating our talented journalists for their meaningful work and furthering our teamwide focus on local, audience-centric news," said VPM News Managing Editor Dawnthea M. Price Lisco. "To receive these honors from fellow journalists is a neat little morale bonus that encourages us to work that much harder for all of our readers, listeners and watchers."
The annual competition drew 619 entries from 38 broadcast news organizations representing Virginia and West Virginia.
VPM's first-place award winners in the Radio I/Metro division include:
- Best MMJ/One-Person Band Reporter: Patrick Larsen
- Best Specialty Reporting: Ben Paviour for “Politics/Criminal Justice”
- Best Multi-Platform Story: Megan Pauly and Connor Scribner for “Unchecked: Inside Richmond Public Schools Fire Inspections”
- Best Station Promo: Whittney Evans for “Curious Commonwealth”
- Best Old Dominion Heritage: VPM News for “Curious Commonwealth”
Additionally, VPM had five second-place finishes in the Radio I/Metro division, including:
- Best Spot News: Whittney Evans, Lilly Knoepp and Riley Thompson for “A Regional Look at Abortion Access, One Year After the Fall of Roe v. Wade”
- Best Documentary or In-Depth: Shaban Athuman, Whittney Evans and Connor Scribner for “Healthy City”
- Best Reporter: Jahd Khalil
- Best Q & A (One-on-One) Interview: Ian Stewart for “Veronica O. Davis: Civil Engineer, Transportation Planner, Self-Described Transportation Nerd”
- Best Multi-Platform Story: Shaban Athuman for “Iwacu: A Journey to Rediscovering Home”
To view the full list of winners, visit Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters.