CBS RADIO NEWS Wins Murrow Award for 'Overall Excellence'

By: Caryn Robbins Jun. 12, 2013

CBS Radio News just can't be beat. For the seventh straight year, the CBS Radio News staff has been chosen winner of the Edward R. Murrow "Overall Excellence" award as best radio news network. CBSNews.com is also the best, as the CBS News Digital staff was named winner of the Best Broadcast Television Website. These honors were two of seven Edward R. Murrow awards for excellence won by CBS News - the most for a broadcast network. The winners were announced today by the Radio, Television & Digital News Association, which will present the awards at a gala on Oct. 14 in New York City.

"Our huge resources, great affiliates and dedicated staff give us a great advantage," said Harvey Nagler, CBS News Vice President, Radio. "The judges were impressed with the completeness of the CBS newscasts and their ability to be in front of the stories." CBS Radio was the first to report on the shooting at an Aurora, Colo., movie theatre and offered comprehensive reporting of the tragedy at the Newtown, Conn., Elementary school, as well as Superstorm Sandy and the atrocities on the ground in Syria.

CBSNews.com's redesigned site received acclaim among network television websites for its timely and thorough coverage during an important news year. "The CBSNews.com team has made quality and depth the focus of everything it does, from reporting to design to new features and functionality," said CBSNews.com Vice President, General Manager Bill Martens. "Our goal is to help online news consumers discover, understand and follow the biggest stories of the day." Nancy Lane, Executive Producer of CBSNews.com, added, "This award is a validation of our efforts to bring the quality journalism of CBS News to all platforms."

The four television Murrow awards for CBS News went to the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY and to 60 MINUTES.

The end-piece series by Steve Hartman, "On the Road," won two for the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY. Three of Hartman's stories won in the Best Writing category: "Woody Davis," about a terminally ill good Samaritan; "Paint the Town," profiling a man working through his grief by painting buildings in his home town; and "Presidio Rocket Club," about an immigrant high school teacher who created a top rocketry program in the unlikeliest corner of the country. "Football Dynasty," a look at the last of 12 sons of a Minnesota family to play football for the local high school, won for Best Video Sports Reporting. The executive producer was Patricia Shevlin, the senior broadcast producer was Jim McGlinchy and the series was produced by Miles Doran. Mike Cesario edited "Football Dynasty" and "Paint the Town."

The 60 Minutes story "Stuxnet," which reported on the computer worm that sabotaged the Iranian nuclear program and also warned how it could be repurposed against the U.S., won for Best Investigative Reporting. The executive editor is Bill Owens. It was reported by Steve Kroft and produced by Graham Messick. The associate producer was Coleman Cowan, the editor was Robert Zimet and Jack Weingart was the broadcast associate.

CBS Radio was also cited for "Best Newscast award" - the third time in the last four years - for being among the first to report on the magnitude of the shooting in Newtown. Correspondent Sam Litzinger was the anchor and Dianne James the editor. Also winning a Murrow award for Audio Feature Reporting was Heather Bosch for "The Man Aisle," a story on how a supermarket reconfigured one of its aisles to help men.

CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager is the Executive Producer of 60 MINUTES. David Rhodes is President of CBS News.