United States Agency for Global Media

USAGM networks recognized for excellence with Edward R. Murrow Awards

June 20, 2019

Washington, D.C. — Two U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) networks—Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA)—have been named winners of the prestigious 2019 National Murrow Awards. This is the first time the two networks have received this honor, presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for excellence in electronic journalism.

“I am thrilled that the RTDNA’s Edward R. Murrow Awards have recognized the high-caliber reporting that RFE/RL and RFA produce,” said USAGM CEO John F. Lansing. “My heartfelt congratulations go to the skillful journalists and storytellers who offer our global audiences accurate and professional journalism—the bedrock of what we do at USAGM.”

CEO Lansing added, “Edward R. Murrow, who in the early 1960s led the U.S. Information Agency, a predecessor to USAGM, would be proud of our modern media organization’s wide-reaching impact.”

Daisy Sindelar, Acting President of RFE/RL, and Libby Liu, President of RFA, offered praise for their award-winning networks, which provide compelling, uncensored and locally-oriented news and information to audiences in some of the harshest media environments around the world.

“We are honored to receive this recognition for providing our audiences with unique stories, powerfully told, on the most influential formats in our coverage area,” said Sindelar.

RFE/RL received the National Murrow Awards’ top honor for Multimedia in the Television Network category. Judges reviewed eleven examples of RFE/RL’s impressive domestic news coverage ranging from Armenia to Uzbekistan.

RFA Mandarin’s “The Women Against the State” won in the juried contest’s Excellence in Video category. The piece focuses on the aftermath of China’s “709 crackdown”– a nationwide roundup of lawyers and legal activists that began in July 2015 – and the wives of those still held in custody today.

“RFA Mandarin’s digital team deserves full credit for this prestigious award. Their hard work to spotlight these brave individuals and share their stories speaks to Radio Free Asia’s critical journalistic mission,” said Liu.

Although this marks the first time that RFA has won a National Murrow Award, the network won several Regional Murrow Awards in years past.