WDIO wins two Sevareid Awards and five Awards of Merit
WDIO received two Sevareid Awards and five Awards of Merit at this year's Midwest Journalism Conference (WDIO).
The Eric Sevareid Awards are presented to the best work produced by broadcast news operations and journalists from the Midwest region. The awards themselves are named for the North Dakota-born and University of Minnesota-educated journalist, Eric Sevareid; best known for his work as a CBS radio and television correspondent.
Members of the WDIO newsroom have been nominated and received a number of Sevareid Awards throughout station history. WDIO was honored once again with multiple nominations for the 2024 calendar year.
This year’s results for WDIO (in the Small Market Television category) are as follows:
- First Place in News Series for “Extreme Weather: The New Normal”
- First Place in Multi-Medi Journalist, Sabrina Ullman
- Award of Merit for Weathercast, Justin Liles
- Award of Merit in Sports Reporting for “Minong Field of Dreams”
- Award of Merit in Weather – Feature for “Winter Weather Ready”
- Award of Merit in Lifestyle or Specialty Programming for The Lift
- Award of Merit in General Reporting for “Fear Beyond the Fence”
More details about each nomination can be found below.
Fear Beyond the Fence: Defending local livestock
Sabrina Ullman spent time in February digging into the fight between farmers and wolves.
“The Soyring farm is in Maple, Wisconsin, which seems to be a hotspot for livestock predation. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife Damage Specialist Brad Koele says that in 2023, the DNR received 115 complaints about wolves attacking livestock.”
Extreme Weather: The New Normal
In this five-part series, WDIO looked into the current climate state and asked the questions: Is this the new normal? And how could the changing climate patterns impact our future lifestyles?
With one of the mildest winters on record during the 2023-2024 season, Brandon Weatherz investigated how our weak ice season would affect summer fun on the water, as well as how the warmer waters could affect our health.
With warmer waters comes concerns for aquatic wildlife. Justin Liles investigated the impacts on walleye and trout, as well as the reason behind a change in other animals’ migration.
The warmer winter meant lower water levels for the shipping season, which made for a more challenging season altogether. Renee Passal investigated the water’s impact on how much weight these ships can carry.
The biggest question in this series: Is Duluth becoming one of the nation’s climate refuge cities? Sabrina Ullman investigated the issue in two parts. The first addresses why Duluth could be appealing for others to move here; the second looks into whether Duluth’s housing market could even withstand an influx of new residents, and what the city needs to make it happen.
Minong Field of Dreams
“At the corner of Railroad Street and Richards Ave. in Minong, Wisconsin lies the representation of ambition, and the execution of a dream.”
What started as a dream and a simple video turned into an entire community coming together to build a baseball field. Spencer Pierce shows us how it all came together, inspiring the next generation of players.
Winter Weather Ready
Every year, the WDIO Storm Track Weather Team puts together their predictions for the next winter season. Coming off a strong El Niño year meant the next winter would be very different from the previous. Looking at winters with similar trends, the Storm Track Team put together a month-by-month forecast.
Justin Liles
Chief Meteorologist Justin Liles won an Award of Merit for his coverage of the winter storm of March 2024.
Sabrina Ullman
Sabrina Ullman won a Sevareid Award as a Multimedia Journalist (MMJ). She takes on a majority of her stories as a solo journalist from start to finish; shooting her own video, editing it for broadcast, writing scripts, and delivering the content on air. In addition, Sabrina is the Storm Track Weekend Meteorologist and often steps in to fill in both on Good Morning Northland and in the evening newscast.
The Lift
The Lift already holds a Sevareid Award, winning a previous first-place award for Lifestyle or Specialty Programming. This year’s submission was an October episode featuring sampling a favorite drink of a famous pop star, winter camping, a chit-chat with the author of a small-town satire, and a taste of a different beverage created by a local business.