WHQR took a variety of honors, including Outstanding News Operation, at this year’s Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas Award Ceremony on November 9, 2024.
News Director Ben Schachtman says, "I am very proud of my colleagues, who not only produced exceptional work on their own but collaborated as a newsroom on this year’s winning special report. I also want to thank RTDNAC for recognizing our team with a first-place award for Outstanding News Operation in radio for the second year in a row – the WHQR team deserves it, and I’m grateful that I get to work with them."
“All of us at WHQR are proud of the work our award-winning news team provides every day to the Cape Fear region. We share our journalists' firm belief that quality journalism makes our communities better and healthier places to live,” adds Station Manager Kevin Crane.
From the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC), WHQR won the following radio awards (the most of any radio station in the Carolinas):
Outstanding News Operation
First Place: WHQR
Series
First Place: WHQR – New Hanover County Schools Turnaround Task Force – Rachel Keith
Special Report
First Place: WHQR Public Media – Special Report on the Mosley School closing – Benjamin Schachtman, Rachel Keith, Kelly Kenoyer, Camille Mojica
Health-Medicine
First Place: WHQR – How Pender County used opioid settlement money to purchase DARE-branded sheriff’s office vehicles – Nikolai Mather
Community Impact
First Place: WHQR Public Media – “The water still isn’t safe” – Nikolai Mather
Second Place: WHQR Public Media – Rarely seen whale species died on Emerald Isle after swallowing mylar balloon – Rachel Keith
Consumer/Economic
Second Place: WHQR – Perspectives: An economic update for the Cape Fear area – Kelly Kenoyer
Entertainment
Second Place: WHQR Public Media – NPR’s Bobby Carter talks 2024 Tiny Desk Contest – Nikolai Mather
General News
Second Place: WHQR Public Media – One year after the Pulp Road wildfire, Green Swamp Preserve has bounced back even better – Kelly Kenoyer
Investigative
Second Place: WHQR Public Media – A closer look at NHCS parents’ groups, and the significant differences in their fundraising capacity – Rachel Keith
Social Reform
Second Place: WHQR Public Media – On the street with cops, social workers, and homeless people in a time of uncertainty – Kelly Kenoyer