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Kansas News Service reporter's work wins national award for Great Plains coverage

Reporter at a sound board in a radio studio.
David Condos
David Condos in the High Plains Public Radio studio in Garden City, Kansas.

David Condos, a reporter from High Plains Public Radio, was honored with a National Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting on issues impacting western Kansas.

David Condos, a reporter for the Kansas News Service, has won a National Edward R. Murrow Award — one the most prestigious prizes in broadcast journalism — for his coverage of western Kansas, its ongoing problems with water, its history of racism and how meatpacking transformed the region.

The Radio Television Digital News Association announced the award on August 11. Condos won the award for Excellence in Writing in its small market category.

Condos is a reporter for High Plains Public Radio (HPPR) and the Kansas News Service, which is based at KCUR. It’s the first-ever national Murrow Award for HPPR in the station’s 42-year history.

He won the award for three stories written and reported for Kansas News Service:

See all of David Condos' reporting.

“A national organization recognized what’s obvious to people in Kansas, that David is a talented and serious journalist,” said Scott Canon, the managing editor of the Kansas News Service. “His work has brought important stories to a statewide and national audience. David’s ability to report complicated stories in easily digestible ways is a rare thing.”

The award was given based on “excellence in writing that conveys the feeling and significance of events to the listener or viewer.” The Murrow Awards are among the most prestigious in news, recognizing the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community.

Condos took homethree regional Edward R. Murrow Awards earlier this year. Additionally, he received two national awards from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA): First place in enterprise reporting for his series on racism in Kansas, “Race in the Free State,” and second place in Photojournalism for his photo of Elizabeth Dole at the funeral of former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole.

Condos will be recognized alongside all of the award winners at the RTDNA’s gala in New York City in October.

Karen Campbell is the Director of Institutional Giving & Communications for KCUR 89.3. You can reach her at karen@kcur.org.
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