New England Public Radio Reporter Karen Brown has won a 2017 regional Edward R. Murrow award for her story "Heroin Addicts Give Up Civil Liberty In Exchange For Treatment."
"Karen spent hours in courtrooms in Springfield and Greenfield while working on this award-winning report -- and many more hours on the phone trying to get to the root of this vital question of public health policy," said NEPR News Director Sam Hudzik. "There are no easy answers to the opioid epidemic, and we're grateful to have the resources to share this story with our listeners."
According to the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), which presents the awards, they "recognize the best electronic journalism produced by radio, television and online news organizations around the world." The Edward R. Murrow Award regional winners automatically advance to the national competition, which will be judged in May. A complete list of regional awardees can be found on rtdna.org.
Karen Brown has been a full-time reporter for NEPR since 1998. She takes special interest in health care, mental health, and social welfare issues. Her features have appeared on National Public Radio, American RadioWorks, Marketplace, and other national radio outlets. She has also produced several award-winning radio documentaries on health topics. She was a 2012-13 Knight Fellow in Science Journalism at MIT. In 2016, Brown won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for best feature for her story "Freed After 27 Years, Man Claiming Wrongful Conviction Gets Little Help From System," which profiled Mark Schand of Windsor, Connecticut, who spent nearly three decades in prison for a murder he says he did not commit.
See Karen Brown's full bio and connect with her recent reporting here.