Press Contacts: Kim Kelling
Director of Content and Community Partnerships
WFSU Public Media kkelling@fsu.edu
Tallahassee, FL— WFSU’s landmark “Not So Black and White” podcast continues to bring in kudos. The Radio Television Digital News Association recently honored the production with three regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, among the most prestigious honors in broadcast journalism.
WFSU won in the categories of Digital, Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Podcast for work on the project Not So Black and White: A community's divided history.
The accolades come as WFSU continues to plan and roll out new episodes in the series. Not So Black and White takes deep dives into the legacy and ongoing consequences of Tallahassee’s racial past with a focus on solutions and opportunities for ongoing reconciliation of systematic problems within the city.
“We wanted to say the quiet parts out loud,” says WFSU Public Media News Director Lynn Hatter, one of several team members who oversaw the podcast’s production. Hatter also contributed an episode. “We wanted to sort of, ‘rip the band-aid off,’ and spark a broader community conversation about where we are, what brought us to the cultural inflection point we’re presently living in, and hopefully, try to chart a path out of it. But that cannot start without examining the past.”
Not So Black and White explores topics such as education, religion, the culture wars, and neighborhood and environmental segregation. To date, the podcast has earned nearly 200,000 downloads in a county where the population is just about the same.
"Florida Humanities is overjoyed to learn that our support has afforded WFSU the opportunity to present the podcast series Not so Black and White, and that their stellar work garnered such wonderful recognition and community impact," said Florida Humanities Executive Director Nashid Madyun. "The Edward Murrow award amplifies and celebrates expectational storytelling, as Florida Humanities has done for the past 50 years supporting nonprofit organizations, like WFSU, and their humanities-based projects. Congratulations to the WFSU team and their dedication to shining a light on the lesser-known personal stories and communities that have shaped Florida's history."
Regional RTDNA Edward R. Murrow award winners will go on to compete for national awards. Those will be announced in the fall.
Earlier this month, the podcast received a mention at the annual Florida Association of Broadcast Journalist Awards.
“This project was a total station team effort and took many months and lots of hard work to produce”, says Kim Kelling, Director of Content & Community Partnerships at WFSU. “I am so proud of our team who told important and often difficult stories about our community. We need to understand our past so we can create a more equitable future for all.”
The NSBW podcast is part of WFSU Public Media’s ongoing efforts to fully represent the community it serves.
About WFSU
WFSU Public Media enriches lives and cultivates diverse perspectives by connecting our community through media content and services that inform, educate, and entertain. WFSU provides quality public broadcasting services to the north Florida and south Georgia areas. WFSU is both an NPR and PBS member station near Innovation Park in Tallahassee, Florida. In Panama City, WFSU Public Media is known as WFSG-TV and WFSW-FM.
About RTDNA
RTDNA is the world's largest professional organization devoted exclusively to broadcast and digital journalism. Founded as a grassroots organization in 1946, RTDNA’s mission is to promote and protect responsible journalism. RTDNA defends the First Amendment rights of electronic journalists throughout the country, honors outstanding work in the profession through the Edward R. Murrow Awards, and provides members with training to encourage ethical standards, newsroom leader