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KUNC wins top journalism award for investigation into Colorado Legislature

KUNC has won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for its investigation into an anonymous and secretive survey system being used by Colorado lawmakers to help decide which bills should get funding.

The Murrow awards are among the most prestigious in broadcast journalism. KUNC won in the Investigative Reporting category for its story, “A Secret Ballot System at Colorado’s Statehouse is Quietly Killing Bills and Raising Transparency Issues”.

Investigative Reporter Scott Franz wrote and produced the story. Franz is a government watchdog reporter at KUNC’sNorthern Colorado Center for Investigative Reporting. NCCIR was launched last year to cover topics important to people in Northern Colorado.

“Scott's reporting sheds light on an important issue that impacts the transparency of our government and raises concerns about the integrity of the legislative process,” said Michael Arnold, KUNC’s chief audience and content officer. “We are proud to have such a talented and dedicated journalist on our team, and we congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition."

Franz and NCCIR continue to report on the surveys, which lawmakers anonymously fill out online each spring. The results typically are kept secret. Transparency advocates say the process is illegal and a violation of the state’s open meeting laws.

“The public is entitled to know how their elected officials, their legislators, stand on certain issues when they actually do cast a vote on them,” said Jeff Roberts, the head of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. “And the Open Meeting Law bars the use of secret ballots.”

Former State Sen. Kerry Donovan told KUNC the secret survey killed a bill she introduced last year that would have improved wildfire investigations. She said the bill’s fate was sealed with the secret survey.

“I don’t think it’s outside the realm to say that if this bill had ranked higher in the preference polling process, that it would be law and we would be investigating the causes of wildfires in the state to a more complete level,” Donovan said.

KUNC President Tammy Terwelp praised Franz and the KUNC news team for its dogged reporting on the issue.

"Our Northern Colorado Center for Investigative Reporting was created for the purpose of the pursuit of truth and public service,” Terwelp said. “It is our duty to ask questions, then ask more questions, and inform the people about elected officials and how they are making decisions. Scott’s reporting is a testament to our nation's founding principles around government and its citizens, and our responsibility as journalists.”

KUNC’s reporting on the secret surveys won in the Investigative Reporting category in Region 3, which includes radio news stations in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The work also is under consideration for a National Murrow Award, which will be announced later this year.

KUNC is a community-licensed public radio station that provides free news, arts and culture coverage to audiences in Northern Colorado. Its mission is to cultivate the mind, to inspire and entertain, and to strengthen the community. KUNC is funded primarily by listeners.