StateImpact and Partners’ Moore Tornado Coverage Honored With National Award

• Joe Wertz
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

Lauren Gardner stands near a family members' house, which was destroyed by the May 20, 2013 tornado that ravaged Moore, Okla.

The Society of Professional Journalists on Wednesday honored reporters at StateImpact Oklahoma, KGOU and KOSU radio with its national Sigma Delta Chi award for collaborative breaking news coverage of the May 20, 2013 tornado.

I was inadvertently caught in the storm, and my conversation with NPR All Things Considered host Robert Siegel from the scene of the Plaza Towers rescue effort was recognized by the organization, as were NPR radio features by former KGOU News Director Kurt Gwartney and KOSU Associate Director and General Manager Rachel Hubbard, which aired May 21 on Morning Edition and All Things Considered, respectively.

This is how Gwartney explained to SPJ the rapid collaboration that enabled the reporting, KGOU reports:

Together, and with the support of other staff at the stations who maintained operations and provided vital information for our audiences, we overcame staffing, personal and logistical problems during this incredible disaster to provide clear, accurate and timely news to not only our local listeners, but to a national audience.