FILE - Utah Highway Patrol troopers investigate a fatal tour bus crash on state Route 12 near Bryce Canyon National Park on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — KSL Newsradio has been recognized with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence. The station was notified on Tuesday that it had won in the Newscast category.
Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News team won the prestigious award for its coverage of a deadly bus crash in September 2019.
The winning newscast submission featured a story of when a bus filled with tourists from China crashed into a guard rail as it traveled to Bryce Canyon National Park. Four people were killed in the crash. All of the passengers on the bus sustained injuries.
The Murrow Awards are given to stations by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). It is a radio broadcasting industry group that strives to maintain a high level of journalistic ethics in radio reporting.
The RTDNA has used its Edward R. Murrow Awards to recognize excellence in radio and television stations since 1971. It added the recognition of digital media in 2010.
“The bus crash was a particular challenge to cover,” said KSL Newsradio News Director Marc Giaque. “It was hours away from our area, yet we were able to provide important information on the crash and its impact on the people and on the small communities around.
“It’s an example of what the KSL Radio news team does daily and it’s great to be recognized as the best in our region,” Giaque said.
KSL Newsradio also won a Murrow Award in the category of Excellence in Social Media. Specifically, COLD: The Susan Powell Case Files was highlighted for social media excellence.
COLD: Susan Powell Case Files is the home of the COLD podcast, an investigative podcast and deep-dive into the 2009 disappearance of a Utah woman.
The Murrow Awards recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community.
All of the winners will now move on to the National competition. Those winners will be announced in October.