HARRISBURG, PA -- The Radio-Television News Directors Association announced today that WITF-FM has won two national Edward R. Murrow Awards.

• WITF captured the Murrow in the Feature: Hard News category for a piece entitled "Aftermath of the Luis Ramirez beating death" by Morning Edition host/Senior Reporter Tim Lambert and audio engineer Joe Ulrich.  Listen to the winning entry

• WITF was also awarded the Murrow in the News Series category for "Impact of War" - a series of features by WITF's state Capitol Bureau Chief Scott Detrow and audio engineers Casey Houtz and Joe Ulrich.  Listen to the winning entry

WITF-FM was the only Pennsylvania media outlet to be honored with National Murrow Awards this year. The above entries represent two of the five Regional Murrow Awards garnered by WITF this year. The other three categories in which WITF was recognized regionally include Feature Reporting, Newscast and Overall Excellence. WITF is in a region that includes all of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. It was in this region - and nationally - that WITF competed against all radio stations in markets 51 and smaller.

Scott Detrow on location in Mississippi

"Each of our five winning regional entries competed against up to 13 others for the national honors," WITF News Director Scott Gilbert said. "So suffice it to say, the fact that two of these pieces rose to the top nationally is spectacular." Gilbert added, "While awards are tremendous, the great public service they stand for is even better and what really matters."

WITF's President and CEO Kathleen Pavelko added, "National Murrow awards are among the most competitive journalism awards in radio. To win two such awards in a single year is a meaningful recognition of the excellence in journalism practiced every day at WITF. We are very proud, and very grateful."

Tim Lambert

Lambert said, "It's an unbelievable honor to receive this type of recognition. To be mentioned in the same breath with such terrific reporters on a national level is humbling.  My goal in producing the story was to reveal how the community of Shenandoah was struggling to deal with the tragic beating death of Luis Ramirez and the divisions that had existed in the town below the surface."

The latest National Murrow Awards won by WITF-FM recognize work from the 2008 calendar year. They represent the 2nd and 3rd such awards won by the newsroom. Lambert was honored in 2007 in the Hard News Feature category for his story Flight 93: Five Years Later.

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