WRAL News had a big showing this weekend at the annual awards for the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC), including taking home honors for breaking news, news website and outstanding news operation.
RTDNAC is a nonprofit, volunteer organization dedicated to showcasing the best broadcast journalism in North Carolina and South Carolina. Member media organizations and individual television, radio and student journalists enter their best work each year, and winners were announced Saturday in Charlotte.
Other WRAL Top Stories
WRAL took first place in nine categories and second in two. Key wins included:
- The WRAL Documentary team was honored in two categories for their work on fixing North Carolina’s broken foster care system and exploring the impact of immigration in North Carolina.
- Keely Arthur’s investigation leading to the firing of a special education teacher convicted of assaulting students with disabilities brought home first place in General News. Her Poe Hall reporting, including the detailed floor-by-floor analysis of an NC State building where cancer-causing chemicals were found, brought home second place for Use of Technology.
- WRAL meteorologist Chris Michaels was recognized for his use of Use of Social Media in highlighting his journey through the high country in the days after Hurricane Helene. WRAL's Daily Download podcast took home a second-place honor for Grace Holland’s coverage of the aftermath of Helene.
- The relentless reporting on the problems at Holly Hill by Sarah Krueger, Carly Haynes, Heidi Kirk and Randall Kerr earned a first-place win for Social Reform.
- For the third year in a row, a WRAL reporter was named Investigative Reporter of the Year. Sarah Krueger and producer Randall Kerr also earned the AP Freedom of Information Award for years of work on public records about the Durham District Attorney's Office.
- WRAL's award for Breaking News came for the coverage of the capture of the suspect in a series of shootings along Interstate 40.
- The year-round efforts of WRAL's News team were recognized in the top prize for News Website and Outstanding News Operation.