5550 Highway 63 S
Columbia, Missouri 65201
Contact(s): Natalie Peluso
Matt Garrett
(573) 882-8888
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For Immediate ReleaseJuly6, 2009
KOMU 8 Journalists Win National Edward R. Murrow Award
KOMU 8 Anchor Sarah Hill Videographer Scott Schaefer Win for Feature Reporting Excellence
COLUMBIA, MO - The Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA)announced recently that KOMU 8 Anchor Sarah Hill and Videographer Scott Schaefer have been honored with a National Edward R. Murrow Award in the category of Feature Reporting Excellence. Hill and Schaefer received the award for their work on Sarah’s Stories: The Magic Tree.
The Magic Treeis the story of a Columbia man’s passion for creating beautiful holiday memories for his community out of an old crab apple tree and seventy-five thousand lights. The story won a Regional Murrow Award earlier this year.
The RTNDA represents local and network news professionals in broadcasting, cable and other electronic media in more than 30 countries. The award, named after broadcast pioneer Edward R. Murrow, is one of the highest honors a broadcast journalist can receive. Hill and Schaefer plan to travel to New York to accept this prestigious award in person at the upcomingRTNDA award ceremony.
“I’m very proud of Sarah and Scott’s achievements,” said General Manager Marty Siddall, “The National Murrow is a highly distinguished honor and Sarah and Scott are deserving recipients. Both have a special talent for bringing viewers unique stories that touch the heart.”
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“This award is all the more impressive because the work of Sarah and Scott has been judged the best feature story from a small station in the whole country,” said News Director Stacey Woelfel, “Some of my colleagues at other stations who have seen the story have already called me to tell me how much they love it.”
Hill and Schaefer have both been honored with numerous Regional Murrow Awards in the past: seven for Hill and five for Schaefer. This is the first National Murrow Award for both journalists. Fellow recipients of this year’s National Murrow Awards include NBC Nightly News, 60 Minutes and ESPN.
In addition to the esteemed Edward R. Murrow Awards, the KOMU 8 News team has garnered numerous awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Missouri Broadcast Education Association for its efforts in informing and educating Mid Missourians.
KOMU 8 is a self-funded auxiliary enterprise of the University of Missouri. The station serves a dual purpose within the community. KOMU 8 provides the public with news and entertainment programming while also serving as an educational institution for students of the University of Missouri. The KOMU 8 newsroom is the only one of its kind to also serve as a teaching lab. At KOMU 8, students attending the prestigious University of Missouri School of Journalism are given the unique opportunity to work alongside professional journalists in a real-life newsroom. This program is set up through the school’s Department of Broadcast Journalism. KOMU 8 also operates Mid Missouri’s CW station.
To view the award-winning storymentioned in this release, please visit the following link:
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