KGMB-TV, its simulcasting successor Hawaii News Now and KHON-TV have won 2010 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. They are presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association, formerly known as the Radio and Television News Directors Association. KITV did not submit entries this year.

The overall list of winners proves newspapers are not dead. More on that in a moment.

Of the nine awards presented in Region 2, comprising California, Guam, Hawaii and Nevada, four were presented to KGMB and Hawaii News Now, including the awards for overall excellence, while KHON won two. All can be viewed online.

Hawaii News Now won for overall excellence; video newscast for a 10 p.m. show anchored by Keahi Tucker and Stephanie Lum; video continuing coverage for stories on St. Damien by reporter Steve Uyehara and videographer Paul Omengkar; and KGMB won for video reporting: hard news, for coverage of the American Samoa tsunami by Tim Sakahara and photojournalist Oscar Valenzuela.

KHON's awards were in the video news documentary category for ”;Hawaii's Saint Damien: A Journey of Sacrifice”; by reporter Gina Mangieri and videographer Greg Lau, which aired Nov. 4, and for “;Seaweed Scam.”; It won in the video news series category and was a package of stories by anchor-reporter Ron Mizutani, reporter Andrew Pereira and Lau, showing a man growing ogo in polluted drainage canal water at Ala Moana Beach Park and selling it to food vendors in Chinatown.

KHON submitted three entries this year and won with two of them, “;so I'm really happy,”; said news director Lori Silva.

The ogo story “;was one of those kinds of stories we love because it takes a lot of investigation — it's not a press release, it's an enterprise story — that's what we strive to do every day.”;

Hawaii News Now's Damien work won in the continuing coverage category for work begun at KGMB that carried over when the station transitioned into the shared services agreement with KHNL-TV and KFVE-TV, said news director Chris Archer.

The American Samoa tsunami coverage that won the video reporting: hard news award was presented to KGMB, as it predated the station's move into the SSA.

The overall excellence entry “;was a blend,”; Archer said. The station prepared a one-page write-up to submit with the entry explaining the lead-up and transition to the SSA.

“;Obviously now ... we have an objective point of view from our peers (saying) 'Yeah, that is what constitutes excellence,'”; he said. “;We've had our critics, but we like to think that as we move forward, more and more people will acknowledge what we've done.”;

The Murrow awards always have been about broadcast journalism, but with the convergence the Internet affords, the sponsoring RTNDA changed its name to RTDNA and expanded the competition's scope to include all electronic media.

This year, every award presented in online news operation categories, was presented to a newspaper. Winners were the Star Tribune in Minnesota, the Dallas Morning News and the Texas Tribune, newsok.com by the Oklahoman and knoxnews.com by the Knoxville News-Sentinel of Tennessee.

———

Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Reach her by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).