WFAE recently won three first-place and two second-place awards in the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas contest.
WFAE’s “Fractured” series, which examined North Carolina’s mental health system, took top honors for investigative reporting. The 11-part investigation was reported by Dana Miller Ervin and produced in collaboration with the PBS series FRONTLINE through its Local Journalism Initiative. Mona Dougani also contributed to the investigation.
Among its findings: More than half of the state’s jail inmates found incapable to proceed to trial because of mental illness wait more than 300 days for a state psychiatric hospital bed.
The other categories in which WFAE earned awards:
- Series: First place for In Focus: Corridors of Opportunity. The year-long series reports on six economically-disadvantaged parts of east, west and north Charlotte that the city has designated as focus areas for investment. Lisa Worf, Elvis Menayese, Nick de la Canal, Kayla Young and Sarah Delia were part of this award entry.
- Social Reform: First Place for Transgender teenagers are at the center of a fierce debate in North Carolina over restricting care, reported by Nick de la Canal.
- Consumer/Economic: Second place for How an investor plans to flip a low-income Charlotte neighborhood, double rents and make millions. This story was reported by Nick de la Canal.
- Community Impact: Second place for climate change reporting by David Boraks.
In addition, WFAE’s Kenneth Lee, Jr. was recognized for his contributions to a North Carolina Public Radio WUNC report, With $1.5 billion from settlements, North Carolina counties tasked with reversing opioid epidemic. That story won first place in the Special Report category.