MPR News and The Current Win Society of Professional Journalists Awards

(St. Paul, Minn.)—May 19, 2015—Minnesota Public Radio received nine first place Page One awards and received the Story of the Year award from the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), at its annual awards ceremony hosted by MPR News host Tom Weber. For the second year in a row, “Betrayed by Silence”, the MPR News investigative series into the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, won Story of the Year. The Current took home first place for “Best Social Media Account”.Full list of Awards:Special AwardsStory of the YearFirst Place: MPR Newsroom, MPR News"Betrayed by Silence"Best Social Media Account – InstitutionalOnlineFirst Place: Jay Gabler, Luke Taylor, Leah Garaas, Andrea Swensson, Minnesota PublicRadio / The CurrentThe Current on Facebook, Twitter & InstagramBest Continuing CoverageOnlineFirst Place: MPR Newsroom, MPR News"Betrayed by Silence"3rd place: Andrea Swensson, Jay Gabler“The 400 Bar saga”Spot/Breaking NewsRadioFirst Place: Newsroom staff, MPR News"Officer Patrick shot and killed"Hard News ReportRadioFirst Place: Trisha Volpe, Laura McCallum, Will Lager, Manda Lillie, MPR News"Focus on concussions transforms high school football in Minnesota"Special Project/In-depth SeriesRadioFirst Place: Dan Gunderson, Kate Smith, MPR News"Rail Safety"InvestigativeRadioFirst Place: Catharine Richert, Elizabeth Stawicki, Bill Catlin, MPR News"Management, technology failures, miscommunication plagued MNsure"Best Use of MultimediaOnlineThird Place: Dan Gunderson, Will Lager, Jeffrey Thompson, Jackson Forderer, MPR News"Mystery trains: Crews, communities in the dark on chemical cargo"Best News VideoOnlineFirst Place: Molly Bloom, Curtis Gilbert, Bob Medcraft, Sam Heyn, MPR News"Choo Choo Bob explains the Southwest light rail line conundrum"Best Newsroom BlogOnlineFirst Place: Bob Collins, MPR NewsNewsCutBest News PhotographyFirst Place: Jennifer Simonson, Jeffrey Thompson, MPR News"Slain police officer laid to rest"Best Sports PhotographyFirst Place: Jennifer Simonson, Jeffrey Thompson, Caroline Yang, MPR News"Photos: Kayaker braves raging Minnehaha Falls"