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STLPR receives 6 national PMJA Awards for newscasts and reporting

St. Louis Public Radio | By Fontella Bradford

Published June 27, 2025 at 12:06 PM CDT

St. Louis Public Radio received six journalism awards from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) for broadcasts and reporting. The 2025 awards recognize the best work in public media from across the country for the 2024 news year.

The station was represented at the awards event by Interim News Director Brian Heffernan, Visuals Editor Brian Munoz, St. Louis on the Air Executive Producer Alex Heuer, and St. Louis on the Air Producer Miya Norfleet.

Former STLPR newsroom intern and current fill-in morning news anchor Ulaa Kuziez, who spoke to the audience as a 2025 cohort in the PMJA Opening Doors program, was also at the PMJA conference in Kansas City. The initiative offers training, paid internships, and mentorship for emerging journalists from underrepresented backgrounds.

STLPR received first place in the Collaborative Effort Category for the highly acclaimed “Unsolved” series, an investigative collaboration on St. Louis’ unsolved homicide rate, conducted with APM Reports and the Marshall Project, with reporting by STLPR’s Rachel Lippmann.

STLPR morning newscaster Abby Llorico also tied for first place in the Newscast category with KJZZ News, an NPR-member station in Phoenix.

The newsroom received six second-place awards, including a second-place nod for Student Spot News by Kuziez.

"These awards reflect the heart, hustle, and collaborative spirit our journalists bring to their work every day," said Brian Heffernan, interim news director at St. Louis Public Radio. "What's especially meaningful is that the honors span so many formats — from quick-turn spot news and newscasts to deeply reported investigations and rich narrative storytelling — and include contributions from student interns, collaborations with other news organizations, and nearly every corner of our local newsroom. I'm incredibly proud of our team and thrilled to see our efforts honored on a national stage."

Other second place wins include recognition for Narrative/Produced Program, Spot News, and Use of Sound.

You can read more about the winning entries and this year’s recipients below.