UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications alumni Jackson Atwell of Lavista and Ben Drozd of Schuyler won a 2025 Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Podcasts from the Radio Television Digital News Association.
The award was presented for the 93 Counties podcast episode “Nance County: Genoa Indian Industrial School Museum,” published on the Nebraska News Service on Aug. 27, 2024.
Atwell graduated in August 2024 and studied broadcasting, and Drozd graduated in May 2025 and studied journalism and sports media.
93 Counties is a podcast series that shares the stories of every county in Nebraska. Students enrolled in Associate Professor of Practice Kaci Richter’s Advanced Audio Content Creation course, BRDC 227, produce an episode for the podcast.
“I’m so proud of Jackson and Ben for their work on 93 Counties,” Richter said. “The national recognition is well-deserved and is an excellent example of what our students can do.”
The episode was written, scripted, voiced and edited by Atwell and Drozd. They interviewed Nance County community members about the history of the Genoa Indian Industrial School Museum.
The Genoa Indian Industrial School Museum was started in 1884 and was in operation until 1934. An earlier form of the school was created as an agreement in the Treaty of Obligation between the Pawnee Nation and the United States Government. Despite the school's tragic past, historical landmarks like the museum bring healing to the community and inform the public about its history.
The Edward R. Murrow awards recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community. Murrow Award-winning work demonstrates the excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard of the broadcast news profession. Learn more about the Murrow awards at: https://www.rtdna.org/content/edward_r_murrow_awards.
