In a year that was almost impossible to categorize, when stories we used to call unprecedented became routine, with an audience more splintered than ever and our own newsroom stung by the layoffs that hit so many industries, we ran out of adjectives to describe the frenzy around us.
But as ABC News Radio reported on the moments that shifted the world in 2023, our team always seemed to find the right words.
This entry for Overall Excellence is made up of stories ABC News told uniquely and powerfully, with smart writing, exclusive details, compelling interviews, and urgency from wherever on the map the news was happening.
These also are stories listeners could hear wherever and however they tuned in, a convenience that became more important in a year when developments that will take up full chapters in history books came at us so quickly.
Our continuing coverage of the indictments against former President Trump highlights how we approached the biggest headlines. It started with wall-to-wall live coverage of the breaking developments (the indictments, bookings, hearings). Our roster of contributors shared unmatched insights. “I asked the former president: Does he plan to turn himself in?” Executive Editorial Producer John Santucci told listeners. “He said, ‘You take care, John.’ And then he hung up on me.”
From there, we added details in hourly newscasts and special reports. We produced primetime specials that took a deep breath and examined how we got to, for example, 91 criminal counts in four different jurisdictions. Our daily news podcast Start Here added new reporting and further depth. All along, we published daily audio on abcnews.com and social media, while radio correspondents shared their original reporting across ABC’s TV and streaming platforms.
We gave this complete treatment to other stories time will remember: disasters, both natural and made by humans; chaos in the House of Representatives; and the war between Israel and Hamas. “I’ve never seen so much destruction,” veteran correspondent Matt Gutman reported from inside Gaza. He was one of the first there after October 7.
And yet, as significant as these stories were, it often felt like they were at risk of becoming background noise. News fatigue was real in 2023. Our challenge was to keep our reporting relevant and digestible, while giving this real-time history the full context and attention it demanded.
Thankfully, the work wasn’t always so heavy. During a stretch of nasty weather, Chuck Sivertsen had fun telling listeners about something called graupel, or soft hail, which “sounds like tinsel-covered rattlesnakes on an aluminum roof.” Our 3-hour show Press Play celebrated new sports like speed golf. Another special, What’s Next: Life & Tech, explored innovations that will change our lives for the better, we hope, like electric vehicles and, maybe, artificial intelligence.
Our podcast library also grew. The King Road Killings: An Idaho Murder Mystery went behind the scenes of a gripping “true crime” story as it was still developing. The View: Behind the Table became a popular audio companion to daytime TV’s No. 1 talk show. The on-demand version of our hourly Radio newscast, ABC News Update, consistently ranked among the most-heard news podcasts in the country.
In each of these programs and on every platform, ABC News is proud to say we didn’t just keep up with 2023. We strengthened our commitment to covering these landmark moments and helping listeners make sense of them. The result is compelling journalism that rose to the occasion. We continue to believe this is audio storytelling at its best.
We hope you’ll agree, and that you’ll find ABC News deserving of the 2024 Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Network Radio. We thank you for your consideration.
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ABC News Radio is available on demand. Didn’t catch a top-of-the-hour newscast? Ask a smart speaker to play the ABC News Update, or stream it on a podcast app.
Reports from ABC News Radio appear daily on abcnews.com, with audio players embedded in articles so readers can listen to the same stories they’re reading.
Link: https://abcnews.go.com/US/paul-pelosi-hammer-attack-federal-trial-verdict/story?id=104879502#radio
Our ABC Audio social feeds are packed with Radio reports, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes posts from reporters on location. Total impressions across Instagram, Twitter/X and Facebook grew by 270 percent in 2023.
If you want to go deeper, Start Here is the daily ABC News podcast. Several shows joined it this year in the ABC Audio podcast library, including The King Road Killings: An Idaho Murder Mystery; Reclaimed: The Forgotten League; daily episodes of The View: Behind the Table; and a third season of Truth and Lies, this time, about the Boston Strangler.
There’s a good chance something you heard elsewhere at ABC was on the radio first. ABC News Radio correspondents regularly provide editorial guidance to the entire news division, and their original reporting appears on all platforms – broadcast, digital and streaming.