UA-housed APR Wins National Sigma Delta Chi Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama Public Radio, housed in The University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences, has been named winner of a 2013 national Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists.

APR won for its documentary “Winds of Change,” which is about the first anniversary of the April 27, 2011, tornado in Tuscaloosa. This was the second consecutive Sigma Delta Chi Award for APR, which won last year in the Best Breaking News Coverage category for its coverage of the 2011 storm.

“It’s always flattering to be honored with a national award of this caliber,” said Pat Duggins, APR news director. “But to generously be recognized in back-to-back years is especially humbling.”

APR’s award was one of only nine total national awards in the radio division.

“As always, we could not have earned this award without the support of the listeners and members of Alabama Public Radio, as well as the unwavering support of The University of Alabama,” said Elizabeth Brock, director of the Center for Public Television and Radio at UA. “To have the quality of our journalistic work recognized on the national level by the Society of Professional Journalists – two years in a row, no less – is a great honor.”