2023 Utah SPJ Awards
KUER won 29 awards from the 2023 Utah Society of Professional Journalists competition, including 10 first place, 11 second place and seven third place wins.
The “Sent Away” team won first place in the Best Podcast category for “This is the place,” which examined how Utah became the epicenter of the teen treatment industry. First place in Best Radio Broadcast went to “RadioWest” for their show about racism in Davis County. Pamela McCall received a first place award for Best Radio Newscast, and Sean Higgins took home first place for his story about Independent and third-party candidates in Utah.
View all of the winners here.
See the full list of KUER’s awards below:
Online: Best Podcast
First Place
“Sent Away: This is this place”
Curtis Gilbert, David Fuchs, Jessica Miller, Will Craft
Online: Best Multimedia
First Place
“All your questions about the shrinking great salt lake answered (by a brine shrimp!)”
McCaulee Blackburn, Rakel Davis, Jim Hill
Radio: Best Radio Reporter
First Place
Emily Means
Radio: General News
First Place
“Father of Orem mayor laments the ‘evil’ in schools during council opening prayer”
Martha Harris
Radio: Government Reporting
First Place
“Do Independent and third-party candidates have a place in Utah?”
Sean Higgins
Radio: Public Affairs / Talk Show
First Place
“Who’s responsible for racism in Davis County and the rest of Utah?”
RadioWest: Doug Fabrizio, Keri Watson, Tim Slover, Benjamin Bombard
Radio: Best Radio Newscast
First Place
Pamela McCall, July 20,2022
Radio: Criminal Justice
First Place
“To ease victim’s trauma, the U’s new police station has a soft interview room”
Ciara Hulet
Radio: Education
First Place
“Even if it’s not named, students understand the reasons for lockdown drills”
Martha Harris
Radio: Diversity and Equity
First Place
“BYU is being tested by racial slurs at a volleyball game. It’s been here before”
Pamela McCall, Elaine Clark
Radio: Personality Profile
First Place
“A poet is keeping vigil at the Great Salt Lake during Utah’s legislative session”
Emily Means
Radio: General News
Second Place
“Mosquitoes and medication shortages plague new Utah State Correctional Facility, say inmates”
Sean Higgins
Radio: Government Reporting
Second Place
“Sen. Gene Davis faces something he hasn’t in decades –– a Democratic primary challenger”
Emily Means
Radio: Best Radio Newscast
Second Place
Ciara Hulet, Dec. 19, 2022
Radio: General Feature
Second Place
“Motel vouchers, churches and more ways unsheltered people try to survive in Utah County”
Ivana Martinez
Radio: Education
Second Place
“Salt Lake City schools feel it too when gentrification pushes families away”
Ivana Martinez
Radio: Diversity and Equity
Second Place
“The @blackmenaces TikTok asks the hard questions to provoke change in BYU student life”
Pamela McCall
Radio: Personality Profile
Second Place
“Galina Perova left the Soviet Union for Utah. Now she wants to save family fleeing Ukraine”
Pamela McCall
Radio: Best Use of Sound
Second Place
“Sounds Wild and Broken: Exploring the Sonic World with David George Haskell”
RadioWest: Doug Fabrizio, Keri Watson, Tim Slover, Benjamin Bombard
Radio: Business / Consumer
Second Place
“Utah has a lot to do if it’s going to move away from coal-fired power”
Sean Higgins
Radio: Environment
Second Place
“Danger Cave still evokes life as it was at a Great Salt Lake of 8,000 years ago”
Elaine Clark
Spanish Language Journalism: Best General News
Second Place
“Salt Lake City está viviendo un gran boom inmobiliario pero se ven menos niños en las escuelas”
Ivana Martinez
Videography: Feature
Third Place
“Suite 7”
RadioWest Films
Radio: Best Radio Reporter
Third Place
Martha Harris
Radio: General News
Third Place
“Utah lawmakers send ‘cease-and-desist’ demands to abortion providers and advocates”
Saige Miller
Radio: Public Affairs / Talk Show
Third Place
“Reporter Michael Rezendes shines ‘spotlight’ on the LDS church”
RadioWest: Doug Fabrizio, Keri Watson, Tim Slover, Benjamin Bombard
Radio: General Feature:
Third Place
“Clinical study of psychedelic drugs for cancer patients could be a ‘game changer’”
Benjamin Bombard
Radio: Education
Third Place
“For a generation born after 9/11, why it happened proves a difficult question to answer”
Martha Harris
Radio: Personality Profile:
Third Place
“Utah Iranians ask the world, and their adopted home, to ‘stand with us’”
Ciara Hulet