Radio & Television News Association's Golden Mike Awards® Honor Southern California PBS Stations KCET and PBS SoCal With Seven Awards for Outstanding Broadcast Journalism
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Chelsea Grosbeck
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Los Angeles, Calif. – March 27, 2023 – PBS SoCal and KCET, Southern California’s flagship PBS stations announced this morning a total of seven wins from the 73rd Annual Golden Mike® Awards presented in-person by the Radio & Television News Association (RTNA) of Southern California on Saturday, March 25. PBS SoCal and KCET were honored in Division A categories that included Best Light News Series Reporting, Best Serious Feature Reporting, Best Medical and Science Reporting, Best News Videography of a Feature Story, Best Video Editing of a Feature Story, Best Video Editing of a Hard News Story and Best Digital News Reporting. The Golden Mike Awards is the longest-running broadcast news awards show in America, and one of the most distinguished because some of the top journalists across America do the judging.
KCET garnered the second-most awards of all Southern California broadcast stations with seven wins including, three for EARTH FOCUS as well as individual wins for SOCAL CONNECTED, THE MIGRANT KITCHEN, TENDING NATURE: INDIGENOUS LAND STEWARDSHIP and Kristina Wong’s “Mask-Making Heroes in the Pandemic” digital reporting story.
The KCET Original Emmy® award-winning series EARTH FOCUS took home top honors in the categories of Best Serious Feature Reporting, Best Medical and Science Reporting, and Best Video Editing of a Hard News Story. Each of the documentaries spotlight a variety of topical issues, from pollution and wildfires to mental health in “California Wildfires,” “Fighting for Air” and “Struggling with Mental Health During the Pandemic.” All of the EARTH FOCUS honorees’ work can be seen on kcet.org/earthfocus and on the free PBS video App.
Another top honor given in the News Videography of a Feature Story, Series or Special, went to the standalone special from KCET’s Original award-winning series, TENDING NATURE. TENDING NATURE: INDIGENOUS LAND STEWARDSHIP documentary explores multiple perspectives from Indigenous communities across California and how traditional practices like seasonal food harvests, basket weaving, and jewelry making can be protected and maintained as a way of life for future generations.
The 73rd Annual Golden Mike® Award wins for KCET and PBS SoCal are listed below by category:
- BEST LIGHT NEWS SERIES REPORTING (Division A) – SOCAL WANDERER
- BEST SERIOUS FEATURE REPORTING, 5 MINUTES OR LESS (Division A) – EARTH FOCUS: California Wildfires
- BEST MEDICAL AND SCIENCE REPORTING, 10 MINUTES OR LESS (Division A) – EARTH FOCUS: Struggling with Mental Health During the Pandemic
- BEST NEWS VIDEOGRAPHY OF A FEATURE STORY, SERIES, OR SPECIAL (Division A) – TENDING NATURE: INDIGENOUS LAND STEWARDSHIP
- BEST VIDEO EDITING OF A FEATURE STORY, SERIES OR SPECIAL (Division A) – THE MIGRANT KITCHEN: Taiwanese Food
- BEST VIDEO EDITING OF A HARD NEWS STORY, SERIES, OR SPECIAL (Division A) – EARTH FOCUS: Fighting for Air
- BEST DIGITAL NEWS REPORTING (Division A) – Kristina Wong: Mask-Making Heroes in the Pandemic
The RTNA salutes the best in broadcast journalism on an annual basis in Southern and Central California. From breaking news to documentaries, awards for outstanding work were presented to reporters, videographers, producers, writers, and managers at Radio and TV stations from San Diego to Fresno. The RTNA is a nonprofit organization representing broadcast news professionals throughout Southern California and coordinates TV pool coverage of major news events in the region, fights for freedom of information causes, and provides scholarships for the next generation of broadcast journalists.
About PBS SoCal and KCET
PBS SoCal and KCET are both part of the donor-supported community institution, the Public Media Group of Southern California. PBS SoCal is the flagship PBS station for diverse people across California and delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and educate. PBS SoCal offers the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, FRONTLINE, and a broad library of documentary films with works from Ken Burns; as well as educational content including PBS KIDS programs like DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD and CURIOUS GEORGE. KCET showcases the best of PBS and is a leading source for arts, culture, and news in Southern California. Through innovative storytelling, KCET explores and expresses our dynamic local communities helping residents understand and connect with the region's diverse communities and ideas. For additional information about both KCET and PBS SoCal productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org and pbssocal.org KCET Originals and PBS programming are available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO SmartCast TV. KCET is also available to watch live on YouTube TV.