For the fifth year in a row, the Alabama Associated Press named Alabama Public Radio the "Most Outstanding News Operation" in the state. This generous honor came during yesterday's AP awards luncheon in Birmingham, where "Morning Edition" host Alex AuBuchon won "Best Regularly Scheduled Newscast," and former APR student intern Josh Hollis took first place in the AP's inaugural college journalism awards.
APR's entry this year included the newsroom's coverage of the 50th anniversary of the "bloody Sunday" attack on voting rights marchers in Selma, the series and documentary on the condition of Alabama's water supply and the health of its rivers, and the fight over same sex marriage. Other stories included news director Pat Duggins' coverage of a controversial incident involving Tuscaloosa Police, where officers were videotaped using batons and tasers to arrest several University of Alabama following a noise complaint. The judges also heard Stan Ingold's story on campaign visits by Donald Trump in Mobile, and Ted Cruz in Tuscaloosa; Alex AuBuchon took to the skies over Tuscaloosa with a group of aerobatic pilots during the Tuscaloosa Air Show; and MacKenzie Bates reported on the growing pains for Baldwin County, which is listed as the tenth fastest growing community in the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.