WBHM 90.3 FM and the Gulf States Newsroom have won a combined nine Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for 2025, including the highest award, Overall Excellence, for WBHM.

The Radio Television Digital News Association announced Region 9 Edward R. Murrow Award winners in 23 categories May 22. Region 9 covers Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Regional winners automatically advance to the national competition. National winners will be announced in August.

The Murrow Awards began in 1971 and are among the most prestigious in journalism.

The Gulf States Newsroom is a collaboration among WBHM, Mississippi Public Radio, and WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana. 

While staff do not do their work for the awards, it is heartening to be recognized, says WBHM Managing Editor Andrew Yeager.

“I am especially proud of the overall excellence nod,” Yeager said. “It’s a sign that, no matter what you hear produced at WBHM, you can be certain we put award-winning thought and care into it.”

WBHM 90.3: Radio, Small Market

• Overall Excellence: WBHM
• Excellence in Sound: Broken sticks and lots of laundry: What it takes to keep the Birmingham Bulls on the ice
• Excellence in Writing: From scrap to sculpture: Joe Minter’s art reflects Birmingham’s pain and joy
• Hard News: What happens when a rural hospital shuts its doors? Look to Pickens County
• Sports Reporting: Broken sticks and lots of laundry: What it takes to keep the Birmingham Bulls on the ice

Gulf States Newsroom: Radio, Large Market

• Excellence in Writing: Gumbo Inflation
• Hard News: ‘Where’s Jeff?’ Unhoused and struggling with opioid addiction in Alabama
• News Series: The fight against gun violence in Shreveport
• Sports Reporting: The HBCU Legacy Bowl is more than just a game

WBHM 90.3 FM is “NPR News for the Heart of Alabama” and a listener-supported service of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. More than a radio station, WBHM is an essential public resource through journalism that is fair, credible, accurate and honest. The WBHM newsroom makes its decisions independently from WBHM’s business and fundraising operations. Free from commercial and political influence, WBHM seeks to make Birmingham and Alabama a better place to live by educating, engaging and entertaining the people of the Birmingham Metro area and the state. WBHM is dedicated to the idea that an informed citizenry is vital to democracy and a thriving economy, and it celebrates diversity, innovation and lifelong learning. For more news, follow the station on Facebook and @WBHM903 on Instagram.

The Gulf States Newsroom is a joint regional news collaboration between NPR and member stations in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana: New Orleans’ WWNO, Baton Rouge’s WRKF and Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson. Through the Gulf States Newsroom, the stations and NPR share resources, plan together and deliver more reporting in areas with widening gaps in local news coverage. Made possible with lead support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Heather and Paul Haaga Jr., the collaboration aims to better serve the existing public media audience while also making a multi-platform push to reach new, diverse groups throughout the Gulf region.