Atomic Annie detonates an atomic bomb. National Archives
Broadcast date: August 21, 2024.
WITF and Tim Lambert received some good news last week. Tim’s story about how his father was one of the last living witnesses to a unique nuclear test in the 1950s won the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Use of Sound.
Journalism Director Scott Blanchard, who served as Tim’s editor on the project, sat down with Asia Tabb to talk about the impact of this story.
“TThe Murrow Awards are among the most prestigious in the industry. The Radio Television News Directors Association gives out Murrow Awards for first-time honors in 14 regions across the U.S. Broken down by the size of the market a station serves, regional honorees are judged and one story is honored as the best of all regions in its market size. As the organization says, stories must adhere to the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and illustrate the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community, so they honor the dedication and excellence that broadcaster Edward R. Murrow was known for. This is the seventh time Tim has received a national Murrow Award, and the 18th since 2007 for WITF, so it’s a big deal to be honored at the regional level. And in fact, Tim Story received three regional awards, for a solid digital presentation and for a feature story. And I just want to point out that digital producer Jeremy Long, graphic designer Tom Downing and videographer Doug Watson all played important roles on the project..”
The story, titled “A Pennsylvania Man Realized the True Power of Atomic Annie,” is about Tim’s father, who was in the Army and witnessed a nuclear test in the Nevada desert in 1953.
“It was the only time a tactical nuclear warhead was fired from a cannon. So it was a massive logistical undertaking. And a lot of that comes through in Tim’s story. And in May 1953, when that test took place, the Korean War was going on, and North Korea and Russia were watching U.S. activities very closely. So, as you’ll hear, the historian that Tim spoke to said that the U.S. wanted to send a message to its adversaries with that test. So this is a fascinating story about Tom Lambert’s personal experience in the midst of the bigger picture. About this event that had such international impact. And it’s also a story that lives on in American cultural history, throughout the atomic age.”
