Presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association, the Murrow Award recognizes STAT’s preeminent role covering Covid-19; this latest recognition for STAT builds on a year of prestigious award wins
Boston (August 17, 2021) – STAT, the nation’s must-read health, science, and medicine publication, today received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in the large digital journalism category for its coverage of Covid-19. The Murrow Awards are among the most prestigious honors in digital journalism, and winners will be honored at the Murrow Awards Gala on Oct. 27, 2021, in New York.
“STAT was founded to provide first-rate coverage of health and medicine at a time when it was in short supply. It was, in effect, built for the Covid-19 story,” said Rick Berke, STAT’s co-founder and executive editor. “Our journalists have deep experience covering these topics and have cultivated relationships with trusted experts in epidemiology, drug and vaccine development, and public health. We are honored and humbled to be recognized with the Murrow Award for Overall Excellence.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, STAT has been a go-to source, providing the most authoritative and up-to-date information available. STAT’s impact went far beyond text stories. It developed one of the earliest and most user-friendly Covid-19 trackers and was the first news organization to create a drug and vaccine tracker. STAT also hosted several video explainers and live chats, refashioned its events for a virtual platform, and was one of the earliest news organizations to put Covid stories in front of the paywall.
These stories were included in STAT’s submission:
- Experts search for answers in limited information about mystery pneumonia outbreak in China
- The basics: What we know — and don’t know — about the virus spreading in China and beyond
- Containing new coronavirus may not be feasible, experts say, as they warn of possible sustained global spread
- The Covid-19 Tracker
- With ventilators running out, doctors say the machines are overused for Covid-19
- Three potential futures for Covid-19: recurring small outbreaks, a monster wave, or a persistent crisis
- In the Covid-19 death of a hospital food worker, a microcosm of the pandemic
- Winter is coming: Why America’s window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19 is closing
- The Road Ahead: Charting the coronavirus pandemic over the next 12 months — and beyond
This latest recognition follows a year of prestigious award wins for STAT journalists. Yesterday, Nicholas St. Fleur received the 2021 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for his coverage of race, medicine, and research. Earlier this year, Helen Branswell received the George Polk Award for Public Service and the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting, and Eric Boodman won first place in the National Headliners Award, digital features category. He also won the Society of Professional Journalists New America Award. Additionally, Helen Branswell, Andrew Joseph, and the late Sharon Begley were named Pulitzer Prize finalists in the breaking news reporting category.
See the full list of Murrow winners.
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ABOUT STAT
Founded in 2015, STAT is a digital media company that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about the life sciences to more than 8 million monthly site visitors and an additional 20 million readers on the Apple News app. STAT takes you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.
STAT’s main newsroom is located in Boston, and it also has reporters in Washington, New York, Cleveland, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.