St. Louis Public Radio
06/18/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/18/2026 14:32
National recognition: STLPR newsroom receives 7 PMJA Awards in 2026
Stay up to date with the latest news and information about St. Louis Public Radio.
National recognition: STLPR newsroom receives 7 PMJA Awards in 2026
St. Louis Public Radio | By Fontella Bradford
Published June 18, 2026 at 3:22 PM CDT
The St. Louis Public Radio newsroom received seven national journalism awards from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA). The organization supports, empowers, and advocates for journalists in public media. The 2026 awards recognize the best work from across the country produced in the 2025 calendar year.
For the second year in a row, PMJA judges recognized STLPR for best newscast, anchored by Abby Llorico.
The station also received "Best Use of Sound/Feature" honors for Marissanne Lewis-Thompson's Halloween peek into the foley arts behind the screams in everyone's favorite horror films. This is the fourth award recognition that story has received this year.
"I am shocked, honored and grateful that my work has been embraced and recognized for excellence in sound," Lewis-Thompson said.
"The beauty of sound rich stories drew me into public radio more than a decade ago. To receive this level of acknowledgement is indescribable."
Marissanne Lewis-Thompson, Afternoon Newscaster and Reporter
Collaborating for impact
STLPR also received recognition for collaborative journalism projects with partner organizations The Marshall Project-St. Louis, Harvest Public Media, and The Midwest Newsroom.
"I often say that collaboration is a superpower for journalism," said Holly Edgell, The Midwest Newsroom's managing editor. "It gives everyone involved the chance to learn and partner while expanding reporting capacity for the benefit of our audiences."
The Midwest Newsroom and STLPR worked together on a story recognized for federal policy and local impact. Station leadership says the collaborative journalism model will be an important tool going forward.
"Collaborative projects have become a cornerstone of our newsroom's growth over the past several years," said Rob Edwards, STLPR's managing editor, news. "By partnering with organizations like The Marshall Project-St. Louis, Harvest Public Media, and The Midwest Newsroom, we're able to tackle bigger, more complex stories while delivering deeper, more impactful journalism to our community. Collaborations aren't just additive, they're transformative, allowing us to expand our reach, share expertise, and better serve the audiences who rely on us."
2026 National Public Media Journalists Association Awards
STLPR Awards
First Place Newscast
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Agriculture replaced nearly all of the original prairie in the Midwest, but a growing number of farmers are incorporating strips of prairie into their row-crop fields. These colorful corridors help with soil and water quality, and wildlife.
Listen • 0:00
First Place Use of Sound
Arts
How Foley artists transform watermelons into a chorus of feasting zombies in horror films
Marissanne Lewis-Thompson
Halloween is synonymous with scary monster movies and spooky sounds, but most of the time those sounds are created with Foley art.
Listen • 7:09
Second Place News/Public Affairs Program
Government, Politics & Issues
Mayoral candidates face off over St. Louis' future
Jason Rosenbaum, Rachel Lippmann
The two contestants for St. Louis mayor took part in an often testy joint appearance on the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air.
Listen • 50:16
Second Place Continuing Coverage - The St. Louis Tornado
Health, Science & Environment
Photos: St. Louis begins recovery after a powerful tornado ripped through the city
Brian Munoz, Kyle Pyatt, Cristina Fletes-Mach, Lylee Gibbs
"It literally had looked like a bomb had just went off," one volunteer said of the tornado's damage in north St. Louis. "Blocks and blocks of homes that are just gone."
Listen • 4:32
Government, Politics & Issues
Victims trapped inside a collapsed St. Louis church say 911 calls went to nonemergency line
Marissanne Lewis-Thompson
When a tornado struck Centennial Christian Church on May 16, three people were trapped inside under debris. Their emergency calls went unanswered.
Listen • 7:09
Economy & Business
Walking the tornado's path 100 days later reveals a divided St. Louis
Kavahn Mansouri
We walked and drove the storm's path from Clayton to the Mississippi and found despair in some neighborhoods and others nearly fully recovered.
Listen • 7:34
Economy & Business
St. Louis homeowners still fighting insurance companies to fix tornado-damaged homes
Andrea Y. Henderson, Kavahn Mansouri
Six months after the May 16 tornado ripped through north St. Louis, people who had insurance policies are struggling to repair their homes. Some say their insurance companies aren't making it easier.
Listen • 4:26
Collaboration Awards
First Place Federal Policy, Local Impact | The Midwest Newsroom, STLPR
Law & Order
'Bring Carol home:' ICE snatches rural Missouri mom at immigration check-in
Kavahn Mansouri, Chad Davis
A Kennett, Missouri, woman went to St. Louis last month for what she thought was a routine meeting with immigration officials to renew her immigration documents. Instead, they shackled her and are now trying to deport her to Hong Kong.
Listen • 4:27
Second Place Collaborative Effort | STLPR, The Midwest Newsroom, The Marshall Project
Law & Order
For 2,000 days, a prisoner's pleas from solitary were ignored. Now Missouri is changing its policy
Kavahn Mansouri, Katie Moore
Honesty Bishop was attacked by her cellmate. Missouri prison officials deemed her sexually active and kept her in isolation for more than 2,000 days.
Listen • 4:43
Second Place Science/Technology Feature | STLPR, Harvest Public Media
Corn, but shorter: Why Midwest farmers are experimenting with smaller varieties
Kate Grumke
Scientists and seed companies are working on shrinking corn. The subtle difference in height has led to some big changes in how shorter corn can be planted and managed in the Corn Belt.
Listen • 3:32
St. Louis Public Radio published this content on June 18, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 18, 2026 at 20:32 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]