KUNC News received four national awards for broadcast journalism at the 2025 annual Public Media Journalism Association (PMJA) conference in Kansas City, MO, last month.
KUNC was recognized for its education reporting, its spot news coverage, sports feature and for an interview on its daily podcast and radio show, In the NoCo. The awards were for work produced in 2024.
“KUNC News is committed to providing trusted, thoughtful journalism that reflects and serves our communities,” said Michael Arnold, KUNC’s Chief Audience and Content Officer. “These awards are a powerful reminder of the impact local stories can have.”
KUNC News won First Place in Education Reporting for Leigh Paterson’s Jan. 3 story, “Chronic absenteeism is plaguing Colorado schools. Here’s what two districts are doing about it”.
The story details the number of students who are chronically missing school in Colorado and the reasons why, while offering possible solutions that other districts are using.
KUNC News also was awarded First Place in the Interview category for In the NoCo’s “After guilty verdicts in Boulder mass shooting trial, a victim's daughter looks back”.
The 9-minute interview is with Erika Mahoney, who lost her dad during the Boulder King Soopers shooting on March 22, 2001. The show’s host, Erin O’Toole, interviewed Mahoney shortly after the verdict was announced.
KUNC also won First Place in the highly coveted Spot News category. Emma VandenEinde won for her piece, “Great American Beer Fest puts the hops back into a flat outlook on the industry”
In the story, VandenEinde attends the 42nd annual Great American Beer Festival at the Colorado Convention Center, speaking with people about beer, brewing and the troubled state of the industry.
KUNC’s Rachel Cohen, who is assigned to the Mountain West News Bureau collaboration, also was recognized by PMJA in the Sports Feature category for her work. Rachel won second place for her story, “People are bucking stereotypes and creating safe spaces at the longest running gay rodeo,” which looks at the history and culture around annual rodeo events for LGBTQ+ people, which have been happening for 41 years in Colorado.
“KUNC continues to be recognized for its robust local news coverage and its focus on issues important to our audiences,” said Executive News Director Sean Corcoran. “These awards speak to the quality of the audience-supported work we do.”
KUNC is NPR News, Colorado Stories, kunc.org. Broadcasting at 91.5 FM and a network of 19 stations and translators around the state — including 91.7 in Denver and west metro; 102.7 FM in Boulder, 88.5 FM in Steamboat Springs, 90.7 FM in Breckenridge, 99.7 FM in Eagle, 90.9 FM in Vail, 88.1 FM in Dillon and 91.9 FM in Grand County, as well on smart speaker, via KUNC mobile app, and streaming at kunc.org. You can support KUNC at KUNC.org/donate.