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KVNF News wins 16 awards

Gavin Dahl and Kate Redmond celebrate KVNF's recognition at the Colorado Broadcasters Association gala in Denver on April 9, 2022.
Tami Graham
Gavin Dahl and Kate Redmond celebrate KVNF's recognition at the Colorado Broadcasters Association gala in Denver on April 9, 2022.

Over the weekend KVNF was honored at two different events in Denver. Our news department brought home 3 third place wins, 6 second place wins, and 2 first place wins in the Top of the Rockies contest administered by the Society of Professional Journalists Colorado Chapter on behalf of chapters in Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming. At the gala for the Colorado Broadcasters Association, we earned 3 second place wins, and 2 first place wins. Today we’ll listen back to clips of 3 of our award-winning pieces. First, here’s a recap of KVNF’s stories with third and second place recognition. In the Top of the Rockies small newsrooms category, Laura Palmisano won third place for Best Public Service for her series on homelessness in Montrose. I won third place for health news for the story “Corinne Ferguson explains next steps on Paonia lead contamination” and third place for mental health feature for a Local Motion program on threat assessment. Kate Redmond won second place for science and technology feature for her Local Motion on understanding the new COVID-19 vaccine. Laura won second place for Best Solutions Journalism for her story on Ouray County’s first affordable housing project. I won second place for education feature for my interview with the new director of the Montrose campus of Colorado Mesa University. I won second place for education news for my story “School District official claims students would drop out if mask mandate is enforced.” I won second place for mental health news for my interview with Tom Turner about advocating for people with intellectual disabilities on his last day at Community Options. And I won second place for legal feature for my Local Motion on the Ouray County Plaindealer newspaper getting sued by Ouray County. That same show was awarded a certificate of merit, basically a second place prize for Best Public Affairs in the small market category by the Colorado Broadcasters awards. Laura won a certificate of merit for Best News Feature on the Shepherd’s Center opening in Montrose to help the homeless and needy locally. And, we are very proud to announce Kate and I were awarded a certificate of merit for Best Regularly Scheduled Newscast based on two entries from last year.

Here's a clip of Kate’s feature on a new North Fork green burials nonprofit that aired last November.

CLIP (1:17)

That’s not all. The KVNF news department won four different first place prizes from the CBA and the SPJ. The Colorado Broadcasters Association awarded KVNF Best Public Affairs Program from a small market for my Local Motion on threat assessment and suicide prevention, featuring Montrose Police commander Matt Smith, Montrose School District director of operations James Pavlich, and licensed professional counselor Laura Byard from the nonprofit Center for Mental Health. I also won Top of the Rockies’ first place for business news for my interview with Montrose Yurt Company CEO John Gibson before their new building in the Colorado Outdoors complex along the Uncompahgre River was approved by the City Council. Here’s a clip.

CLIP (1:33)

Finally, reporter Laura Palmisano’s feature “String Academy Draws Violinists from Around the World to Tiny Lake City” was KVNF’s biggest winner of all. It was named Best News Coverage of a Single Event by Colorado Broadcasters and Best Arts and Entertainment Feature by the Society of Professional Journalists. Here’s a clip.

CLIP (1:50)

That does it for Monday’s KVNF Regional Newscast. Thanks so much to all of you who support KVNF’s newsroom. You can donate now at kvnf.org. I’m Gavin Dahl.

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Gavin Dahl is a writer and producer with a passion for community media. He worked for KVNF from July 2020 to July 2022. He won awards and recognition for his KVNF reporting from the Colorado Broadcasters Association and Society of Professional Journalists. His writing has been published by The Montrose Press, The Sopris Sun, Boulder Weekly, Raw Story, Radio Survivor, Boise Weekly, and The Austin American-Statesman. He graduated from The Evergreen State College with a BA in media production and community organizing.
Kate Redmond was reared on a ranch in Routt County, Colorado in a large and boisterous family. Kate has enjoyed a career in audio and lighting, with previous stints at The Vilar Performing Arts Center, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and Strings Pavilion. Her interests include alpine skiing, yoga, poetry, mosaics, and she's currently writing a memoir about her time in Uruguay. After several years as a KVNF volunteer, she joined the staff in December 2020. She left the KVNF staff at the end of June, 2022, to take a position at KSUT in Ignacio, CO.
Laura joined KVNF in 2014. She was the news director for two years and now works as a freelance reporter covering Colorado's Western Slope. Laura is an award-winning journalist with work recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists, Colorado Broadcasters Association, and RTDNA. In 2015, she was a fellow for the Institute for Justice & Journalism. Her fellowship project, a three-part series on the Karen refugee community in Delta, Colorado, received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award.
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