Townsquare Media’s WKXW (101.5 FM) won an Excellence in Journalism Award from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists for the station’s coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout at a local hospital.
The award was given in the category of Broadcast for COVID Coverage and was connected to WKXW’s coverage of the vaccine distribution at a hospital where wealthy donors and ineligible relatives were allowed to “cut the line” to the detriment of at-risk patients.
The hospital, Hunterdon Medical Center, purportedly gave the vaccine to young adult children of wealthy donors ahead of senior citizens, according to WXKW’s report, even though they were not technically eligible under New Jersey’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution guidelines. A hospital spokesperson told the station that it followed state regulations and guidelines, and that it only provided the vaccine to ineligible patients when “there was a risk of virus supply going to waste,” the station reported.
WKXW’s report ultimately prompted New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to put hospitals and other medical facilities “on notice” that they would lose their vaccine supply if they did not follow state regulations.
The award recipients were reporter and anchor Erin Vogt and digital managing editor Sergio Bichao.
“Erin’s work is another example of how New Jersey 101.5 continues to serve our audience both on air and online,” Brian Lang, the regional vice president of Townsquare New Jersey, said in a statement. “What we do matters.”
The NJSPJ Excellence in Journalism Awards were announced Saturday in Princeton. It was the second consecutive year WKXW received an award for its COVID-19 coverage; in 2021, the Radio and Television Digital News Association station was bestowed with the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast. That year, WKXW submitted a newscast related to the closure of businesses at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
