89.9 WWNO — New Orleans Public Radio is a regional winner of the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for its 2013 news series “Louisiana Coast: Last Call” — reported by Bob Marshall and produced by Fred Kasten, with online digital development by digital director Jason Saul.
The award was announced today by the Radio Television Digital News Association, which makes the awards to recognize the best electronic journalism produced by radio, television and online news organizations. WWNO now advances to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards competition, which will be judged in May and presented in New York in October.
“Louisiana Coast: Last Call” was a fifteen-part series in which Marshall and Kasten examined Louisiana’s massive coastal erosion, during which every hour an area of wetlands the size of a football field disappears beneath the waves of the Gulf of Mexico. Interviewing scientists, engineers, public officials, fishermen and oystermen, Marshall and Kasten explored the causes of the erosion, projections of future losses, the regional and national impacts on the economy and environment, and possible approaches to restrain the continued land losses, which bring the waters of the Gulf ever closer to New Orleans and other coastal communities.
“We are so honored that the excellence of Bob and Fred’s work has been recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award,” said WWNO General Manager Paul Maassen. “We at WWNO feel that the disappearing coast is one of the most critical challenges facing southeast Louisiana, the region we serve. We have made coastal news reporting a top priority, and it is very gratifying that our first major coastal news project has been recognized with electronic journalism’s top award.”
A Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper reporter, Bob Marshall is well-known in south Louisiana for his years reporting on outdoors and coastal news for The Times-Picayune and more recently for the online news organization The Lens. Fred Kasten’s music and cultural features and programs are heard frequently on WWNO. He served the station as on-air announcer, producer and program director for 20 years before becoming an independent radio producer and consultant in 2007.
Funding for “Louisiana Coast: Last Call” was provided by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the community foundation that serves thirteen parishes of southeast Louisiana, and that has made coastal concerns a priority in its grantmaking and other activities.
WWNO is the NPR member radio station for New Orleans and 13 parishes of southeast Louisiana, broadcasting on 89.9 FM and on KTLN 90.5 FM in the Houma-Thibodaux area. WWNO broadcasts news, music and cultural programs on 89.9 FM and 90.5 FM; 24-hour classical on WWNO HD2; and 24-hour jazz on WWNO HD3. All of its program streams are available at WWNO.org. WWNO’s trusted, thought-provoking news and lively cultural entertainment make it one of the top stations in metro New Orleans.
WWNO is a public service of the University of New Orleans.
