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Colorado Public Radio Wins Gracie Award, Third CBA Station of the Year Award, SPJ’s Top of the Rockies Awards, Colorado Association of Black Journalists Awards and More

Centennial, Colo., May 9, 2024 - Colorado Public Radio is proud to announce it has been recognized with a number of recent awards for its work. KRCC’s Abigail Beckman and Andrea Chalfin, and CPR’s Rachel Estabrook, are the winners of a prestigious Gracie Award. CPR is the winner of the Colorado Broadcasters Association’s Station of the Year award for the third year in a row, as well as six first-place awards for CPR News and two for KRCC. 

Additionally, CPR was named the Colorado Association of Black Journalists’ organization of the year, with Colorado Matters’ Chandra Thomas Whitfield earning journalist of the year. CPR took home six first-place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists Colorado Pro Chapter (three for CPR News and three for Denverite) and a third-place award from Best of the West. Denverite’s Kevin J. Beaty was also named Best Storyteller in Westword’s Best of Denver 2024. 

“This impressive range of awards demonstrates the importance of the service CPR News, Denverite and KRCC provide the state of Colorado,” said Sean Nethery, senior vice president of content. “We are grateful that these local, regional and national organizations recognize the excellence of all these amazing individuals telling Coloradans vital stories every day.” 

According to the Alliance for Women in Media, the Gracies celebrate outstanding achievements in media dedicated to women, by women, and about women across diverse platforms in news and entertainment. The team from CPR won the award for their retrospective on a year since the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs.

The Colorado Broadcasters Association honored CPR News with the Station of the Year award (metro market) plus six Awards of Excellence for Best Public Affairs Program, Best News Feature, Report or Series, Best Mini-Documentary or Series, Best News Special or Public Affairs Special, Best Station Website and Best Radio Podcast. KRCC won Awards of Excellence in the major market division for Best News Feature, Report or Series and Best News Coverage of a Single Event. CPR News and KRCC were also honored with seven Certificates of Merit.

In addition to Kevin J. Beaty’s recognition from Westword, he took third place in the Best of the West awards in the News Slideshow category for his portrayal of new immigrant arrivals. The judge wrote, “This is a topic that dominates much of our political discourse these days, but these photos go past that and give migrants a dignity they’re not often shown.” 

The Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists honored CPR News with three Top of the Rockies awards in the following categories (extra-large newsroom division): Climate Reporting, Education: Feature and General Reporting - Series or Package. Denverite won three first-place awards in the medium newsroom division: Enterprise Reporting, Mental Health: Feature and Multimedia Story. 

The story that won first place for General Reporting - Series or Package was "Aurora ICE death autopsy released, raises questions about medical care in federal detention centers." The SPJ committee wrote, “This story shed light on a heart-breaking incident and raised important questions about oversight.”

Visit our website to see the full list of awards. Media inquiries: Clara Shelton, [email protected]

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About Colorado Public Radio

Colorado Public Radio is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization delivering meaningful news, music, and cultural experiences to everyone in Colorado using the power of the human voice in all its forms. Roughly 95 percent of CPR’s funds come from the private support of listeners, businesses and foundations. For more information, visit www.cpr.org.

  • CPR News delivers in-depth, insightful and impartial news and information from around the world, across the nation and throughout Colorado, examining its relevance to our state and connecting it to our community.
  • CPR Classical takes listeners on an in-depth exploration of thoughtfully curated music – with an emphasis on Colorado’s classical community – providing context to a broad range of meaningful and compelling works from past to present.
  • Indie 102.3 takes listeners inside the world of new and independent music – exposing them to up-and-coming artists and highlighting Colorado’s local music scene.
  • Denverite is an online news source dedicated to Denver's curious and concerned.
  • KRCC is a public radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado, serving Southern Colorado. KRCC is operated by Colorado Public Radio in partnership with Colorado College.