EDITOR'S NOTE: Much of Condos' work also appears on Salina Post.
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Kansas News Service
David Condos, a reporter for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service, has won a National Edward R. Murrow Award — one of the most prestigious prizes in broadcast journalism — for his coverage of western Kansas, its ongoing problems with water, its history of racism and how meatpacking transformed the region.
Condos won the award for Excellence in Writing and was selected as the national winner from among this year's regional Murrow award recipients across the country.
Condos is a reporter based in Hays for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service, which is a statewide collaboration of public radio newsrooms. This is the first-ever national Murrow award for HPPR in the station’s 42-year history.
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) recognized his work for three stories written and reported in western Kansas:
- What The History Of 'Noose Road' Tells Us About Kansas, Race And The Lynchings Of Black Men
- Farmers Trying To Save The Ogallala Aquifer Face Tension From Peers, But Their Profits Are Improving
- How a meatpacking plant changed one Kansas town 40 years ago and left a Colorado community behind
See all of David Condos' reporting.
“A national organization recognized what’s obvious to people in Kansas, that David is a talented and serious journalist,” said Scott Canon, the managing editor of the Kansas News Service. “His work has brought important stories to a statewide and national audience. David’s ability to report complicated stories in easily digestible ways is a rare thing.”
The award was given based on “excellence in writing that conveys the feeling and significance of events to the listener or viewer.” The Murrow Awards are among the most prestigious in news, recognizing the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community.
Condos took home three regional Edward R. Murrow Awards earlier this year.
Additionally, he received two national awards from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA): First place in Enterprise reporting for his series on racism in Kansas, “Race in the Free State,” and second place in Photojournalism for his photo of Elizabeth Dole at the funeral of former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole.
Condos will be recognized alongside all of the national Murrow award winners at the RTDNA’s gala in New York City in October.