The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®), in partnership with the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), proudly announce winners of the 2019 Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting Awards. Through the organizations’ ongoing partnership to encourage and support radio, television and online news outlets to report on consumer finance issues, winners from three newsrooms have been recognized for their outstanding work.
Radio: Tracy Samilton, Michigan Radio, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Story: Why the Funeral Rule Is One of the Least-Known Consumer Protection Laws in the Country
Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change, for Michigan Radio. Her reports frequently can be heard on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” as well as on Michigan Radio. Her coverage of Michigan’s Detroit Three automakers has taken her as far as Germany and China. Samilton’s winning entry sheds light on an often overlooked consumer protection law—the Funeral Rule. Samilton found that nearly 50 percent of funeral homes in Lansing, Mich., had violated the rule, which protects consumers from being exploited during a vulnerable and emotional period.
Television: Chris Vanderveen, KUSA-TV, Denver
Series: Lien on Me
Vanderveen is a nationally recognized investigative reporter at KUSA-TV in Denver. He has covered everything from the shootings at Columbine High School and Aurora’s Century 16 Theater, to fires and floods that forever changed the landscape of his native home. In his winning series, Vanderveen investigates the practice of liens being placed on properties of those saddled with medical debt and the repercussions real people face in this challenging issue. This is the second RTDNA/NEFE Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting Award for Vanderveen.
Digital/Online: Casey Bond, HuffPost, Los Angeles
Story: MLMs Are a Nightmare for Women and Everyone They Know
Bond is a lifestyle reporter for HuffPost covering money, home and living. She has contributed to a number of publications including US News & World Report, Forbes and TheStreet. In her winning entry, Bond explores how multilevel marketing companies have been exploiting women by selling an unattainable idea of how much money the average person will make selling their products.
Each winner receives a $1,000 prize and a trip to San Antonio for the 2019 Excellence in Journalism convention—the national gathering of RTDNA, the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The RTDNA/NEFE Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting Awards are presented in connection with Money Matters, a resource developed through the partnership between NEFE and RTDNA to help journalists better cover stories about financial issues.
For a list of previous winners and more about the RTDNA/NEFE Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting Award, visit www.rtdna.org/content/nefe_award.
About the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)
RTDNA is the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to broadcast and digital journalism. Founded as a grassroots organization in 1946, RTDNA works to protect the rights of journalists throughout the country, promotes ethical standards in the industry, provides members with training and education, and honors outstanding work in the profession through the Edward R. Murrow Awards. For more, visit www.rtdna.org.
