2018 RTDNAC/AP Awards Winners
Winners were announced Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, at the RTDNAC/AP annual luncheon at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Click on a tab below to view winners for a specific division.
AP Awards
Daytime Newscast (North Carolina)
– First Place: WSOC – Eyewitness News Daybreak
Daytime Newscast (South Carolina)
– First Place: WLTX
– Second Place: WYFF 4 – WYFF News 4 at Noon – Jenni Knight, Jennifer Mihalic, Anna Dobbins, Lee Brown, Bruce Barkley
Evening Newscast (North Carolina)
– First Place: WSOC – Eyewitness News at 5 p.m.
– Second Place: WNCN – CBS 17 News at 11: June 5, 2018
Evening Newscast (South Carolina)
– First Place: WSPA – 7News at 5 p.m.: Upstate Tornadoes – Samantha Donna, Amy Wood, Tom Crabtree, Christy Henderson, Ashley Mance
– Second Place: WYFF 4 – WYFF News 4 at 4 p.m. – Tiffanie Wise, Jennifer Mihalic, Anne Newman, Lee Brown, Bruce Barkley
First Amendment Award of Excellence
– First Place: WBTV – WBTV Investigates – Nick Ochsner, Corey Schmidt, Connor Gantt
Outstanding News Operation (North Carolina)
– First Place: WNCN
– Second Place: WRAL
Outstanding News Operation (South Carolina)
– First Place: WYFF News 4 – Bruce Barkley, Lee Brown, Anna Dobbins, Jennifer Mihalic, Anne Newman
– Second Place: WLTX
RTDNAC Awards
Best Newscast
– First Place: WGHP – Greensboro Tornado
– Second Place: WCNC – 6 p.m. Train Derailment-Party Bus Exclusive (May 4, 2018) – Chelsea Durcholz, Kristy Nation, Daniel Brown, Evan West, Tanya Mendis
Breaking News
– First Place: WXII – Greensboro Tornado
– Second Place: WSOC – Breaking News: Ambush at CMPD Headquarters
Consumer/Economic
– First Place: WRAL – Ford Explorer Concerns – Monica Laliberte, Jennifer Sorber Smith, Dave McCorkle, Erin Simanskis
– Second Place: WTVD – Dangerous Kids Makeup – Diane Wilson, Domenico Zelano
Education
– First Place: WBTV – The Inequities in Our Local Classrooms – Dedrick Russell, Reuben Muiruri
– Second Place: WLOS – Inside a Lockdown Drill – Jennifer Emert, Derek Bryant, Bill Evans, Josh Luckado, Ken Corn
Entertainment
– First Place: WLOS – Kalimba Man – Justin Hinton, Matthew Yates
– Second Place: WNCN – Durham’s Son: André Leon Talley, Monsieur Vogue – Beairshelle Edmé, David Hattman, Christopher Hemric, Patrick Priest
General News
– First Place: WNCN – Remembering Billy Graham – Justin Quesinberry, Terrence Evans, Patrick Priest, George Umbenhauer
– Second Place: WJZY – Multiple Sclerosis Patient Arrested for Marijuana
General News by Multimedia Journalist
– First Place: WJZY – Post Office Caught Throwing Away Mail
– Second Place: WCNC – Blind Veteran Kayakers – Savannah Levins
Hard News Feature
– First Place: WXII – Pickleball Politics
– Second Place: WLOS – I Will Always Be With You – John Le, Jordan Powell
Health-Medicine
– First Place: WRAL – Donald Wilson – Scott Mason, Mark Stebnicki
– Second Place: WNCN – Turning Tragedy Into Hope – Maggie Newland, Chris Hemric, Charles Malloy, Dan West
Investigative
– First Place: WJZY – Political Poker
– Second Place: WRAL – WRAL Investigates: School Safety – Cullen Browder, Randall Kerr, Greg Clark
Light Feature
– First Place: WSPA – Love at the Springs – Ryan Goodman, Christine Scarpelli
– Second Place: WCNC – Olympic Wind Tunnel – Ben Thompson, Dan Robbins
– Second Place: WLOS – You Are Such a Big Girl! – John Le, Matthew Yates
News Special
– First Place: WBTV – Orangeburg: 50 Years Later – Steve Crump, Kevin Marlow
– Second Place: WGHP – Generations of Heroes
News Website
– First Place: WRAL – WRAL.com
– Second Place: WCNC – WCNC.com
Original Web Reporting
– First Place: WCNC – Fly-Fishing Program Helps Vets Heal – Andie Judson, Amy Lehtonen
– Second Place: WRAL – How ‘NC’ Got Erased from Atlantic Coast Pipeline Fund – Travis Fain, Matthew Burns
Photography
– First Place: WTVI PBS Charlotte – Carolina Impact: Links to the Past – Doug Stacker
– Second Place: WYFF 4 – S.C. from Above – John Hendon, Codie Sloan, Phil Tate
Political
– First Place: WRAL – Redistricting, Gerrymandering Explained – Tyler Dukes, Maggie Brown, Mandy Mitchell, Justin Arner
– Second Place: WTVI PBS Charlotte – Carolina Impact / HB2: Gone But Not Forgotten – Jeff Sonier, Doug Stacker
Series
– First Place: WBTV – WBTV Investigates: North Carolina’s Deadly Prisons – Nick Ochsner, Corey Schmidt
– Second Place: Spectrum News – Menu Hopping – Tim Spears
– Second Place: WTVI PBS Charlotte – (Re)Made in the Carolinas: Textile Towns – Jeff Sonier, Doug Stacker
Special Report
– First Place: WSOC – Billy Graham’s Final Homecoming
– Second Place: WBTV – WBTV Community Conversation: Homicide & Hope – Patrick Griffin, Amanda Bazemore, Brigida Mack, Jamie Boll, Ross Sontheimer
Sports Reporting
– First Place: WLOS – No Quit in Me – Chris Womack, Jordan Powell
– Second Place: WCNC – Mario Addison Playing Through Pain – Kelsey Riggs, Mike Hanson
Sports Special
– First Place: WHNS – Rematch: Clemson vs. Alabama – Aaron Cheslock, Kelly Boan, Shannon Sommerville, Mark Warren, Ryan Sloan
– Second Place: WGHP – Racing Back Home
Use of Social Media
– First Place: WYFF 4 – WYFF News 4 Social Media – Stephanie Towers, Janice Limon, Justine Palis, Carla Field, Bruce Barkley
– Second Place: WGHP – MYFOX8
Use of Technology
– First Place: WRAL – Olympic Zone