News Talk 830 WCCO is the winner of the best podcast Marconi Award for "Denied Justice," a collaboration with the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune newspaper, based on cases of rape that went uninvestigated by law enforcement authorities.
This was the first time the National Association of Broadcasters handed out a Marconi for the best radio podcast of the year.
The presentation came Thursday night at the NAB meeting in Dallas.
"Every time I called those women to get their stories for the podcast, we could sense that they were opening up a vein to bleed the worst day of their life," said WCCO's Jordan Green, who created the podcast. "Not in the hopes that they could change what's happened to them, but in the hopes that they could change what happened to the next girl, or the next boy, that they wouldn't have to live the horror that they lived through. And they did change it. Let me tell you, the laws of Minnesota are changing."Following the first reports on the combined WCCO Radio/Star Tribune Podcast, the Minnesota Attorney General convened a sexual assault investigative task force with a goal to make recommendations for changes in state law.
WCCO Director of Content Lindsey Peterson pointed out the significance of receiving the brand new award at the National Association of Broadcasters.
In reporting that story, Star Tribune reporters heard from several law enforcement sources that sexual assault investigations in Minnesota deserved further scrutiny.
Over the course of a year, the Star Tribune examined more than 1,400 rape and sexual assault case files from the 20 law enforcement agencies across Minnesota that reported the highest number of sexual assault reports to the FBI.
In July of 2018, Green created the “Denied Justice Podcast” in association with the Star Tribune’s print series on investigating rape, in order to provide a voice to the victims and law enforcement involved in those specific cases. WCCO’s “Inside the News” series used narrative storytelling to create this unique, audio-based way to deliver investigative news.
WCCO presented six episodes in 2018 between July and December, including a trailer at the start of the series. There were three more episodes produced in 2019 (the Marconi Awards recognize only what was produced in 2018).
WCCO host Jordana Green continued the story presented in the Star Tribune by conducting her own interviews, adding depth to the reporting, plus interviewing the Star Tribune reporters consistently throughout the series on her Afternoon Drive Talk Show on WCCO Radio alongside Paul Douglas. Jordana’s spent months embedded with reporters Brandon Stahl, Jennifer Bjorhus of the Star Tribune creating the audio stories that would become “Denied Justice”. Others involved include, WCCO Director of Content Lindsey Peterson, Digital Editor Jared Goyette who assisted with writing and producing, and Production Director Dan Culhane who assisted in assembling the podcasts.
The Star Tribune's Managing Editor Suki Dardarian, along with reporters Brandon Stahl, Jennifer Bjorhus, MaryJo Webster, Hannah Covington, Photographers/Videographers Renée Jones Schneider, Jenni Pinkley, Deb Pastner, plus many more contributed content to the podcast.