Local podcast wins prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Congratulations to the Jessye Norman School of the Arts for winning an Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the podcast “Shots in the Back: Exhuming the 1970 Augusta Riot.”

The podcast follows the series of events that led to one of the only major Civil Rights Era riots in the South, beginning with the brutal murder of Charles Oatman, an African American teenager held by police in the county jail. JNSA podcast students interviewed several firsthand witnesses and local experts to produce the series. The podcast is unique in that it features real student conversations about the Augusta riot and its historical implications. Students also have in-depth conversations with witnesses who directly experienced the historic riot.

The series was the first major podcast project produced by JNSA’s high school and middle school students. When the podcast series was first released on GPB’s website, it quickly became the number one podcast on the website with over 400,000 downloads.

“I’m very surprised it was so powerful,” says Atticus, one of the podcast students. “It feels like something I just did with my friends, and then hundreds of thousands of people listened to it. It’s kind of incomprehensible.”

More information about the podcast can be found at https://www.gpb.org/podcasts/shots-in-the-backexhuming-the-1970-augusta-riot. You can download the podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shots-in-the-back-exhuming-the-1970-augusta-riot/id1518652796.

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