Summary: The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast has some great news in May 2020! The Radio Television Digital News Association announced May 12 that the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast is the winner of a 2020 regional Edward R. Murrow Award. More than 750 Murrow Awards represent more than 350 local radio and television news outlets from 49 states and four countries for this year’s awards. The winning work includes 36 podcasts, a new category for 2020, along with nearly 50 investigative reports and more than 100 examples of excellence in innovation, social media and multimedia. In the small market radio category, WTIP won for the ‘Best Podcast’ category for the original “Boundary Waters Podcast.” The award is for overall series content based on the submission of Episode 18, the story of Erik Dickes from Omaha, Neb., who recorded an audio diary on a trip to the BWCA in May 2019, to commemorate his late father, and tell the story of a canoe trip they had planned to take together in 2018. In today’s episode, we again hear from Erik as we share the news about the Murrow Award with him from his home in Nebraska. Co-host Joe Friedrichs also talks about an upcoming trip Erik has planned for June 2020. Also in today’s episode we hear from Wisconsin resident Chris Charnecki, an avid BWCA angler and paddler about his trip that was canceled for the Minnesota Fishing Opener on May 9, 2020. Joe and podcast co-host Matthew Baxley did venture out for the Fishing Opener this year on a day-trip, while being mindful of social distancing measures amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Overnight permits in the BWCA were not valid on this year’s Opener, and there was a campfire ban in place in the wilderness as well. It was a cold day in the BWCA on this year’s Fishing Opener, though walleye were found after much hard work.
