Inside KCUR

KCUR podcasts and reporting win national awards from 2023 Public Media Journalists Association

KCUR | By Karen Campbell

Published August 25, 2023 at 3:41 PM CDT

A photo illustration of Niko Quinn and her house on Hutchings Street in Kansas City, Kansas, where Quinn witnessed someone murder two people in 1994. Quinn says she was forced by then-KCKPD detective Roger Golubski into giving false testimony against Lamonte McIntyre for the crime.

KCUR Studios took home four awards from the 2023 PMJA Awards, two each for the investigative podcast Overlooked and the history podcast A People's History of Kansas City. KCUR's newsroom and collaborative partners also won recognition in the national competition.

KCUR was recognized with five Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) awards at the annual conference in San Antonio on Friday, June 23.

Four of the five were for podcast content from KCUR Studios, including:

The first season of Overlooked was recognized with first place in the Narrative/Produced Podcast category.
Overlooked also won second place in the Investigative Reporting category for the episode, "Who are the murdered Black women connected to KCKPD detective Roger Golubski?"
The KCUR Studios podcast A People's History of Kansas City won first place in the Nationally Edited Feature category for "Julia Lee pioneered blues 'too risque' for the radio."
That podcast was also awarded second place in the Long Documentary category for "Parade Park offered Black Kansas City families a chance for home ownership. Now it's crumbling."

In addition, "A small Kansas community college finds itself in the spotlight amid allegations of racial animosity" by national correspondent Frank Morris won second place in the News Feature category.

PMJA also named KCUR news director Lisa Rodriguez as Editor of the Year.

Kansas News Service partner stations also took home awards, including:

"A Kansas program aims to reward good nursing home care, but critics say poor oversight remains" from KMUW won first place in Digital Writing and second place in Investigative Reporting.
"Derby residents pack school board meeting to support principal's lesson on 'white privilege'" from KMUW got second place in the Breaking News category.
The series "Parched: How water — and a lack of it — shapes life in western Kansas" from High Plains Public Radio won first place in Enterprise reporting.
The story "Even competitive hunting can't stop coyotes from thriving in Kansas" won first place for Use of Sound and second place for Audio Scripting. This story was also recognized with a national Edward R. Murrow award in August 2023.

Headquartered at KUCR, the Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.

The PMJA supports, empowers and advocates for journalists working in public media. Click here to view the complete list of award winners.