Miseducation podcast season named finalist for national audio reporting award

Staff Report

The Education Writers Association announced Tuesday that Season Six of The Bell’s Miseducation podcast has been named a finalist in its 2022 National Awards for Education Reporting.

The Bell joins American Public Media and WFPL as finalists in the smaller newsroom division for the top prize in audio storytelling. The Bell is the only finalist — in any category — whose reporters are high schoolers.

“For years I have known that our students’ education reporting stacks up with the pros,” said Taylor McGraw, The Bell’s executive director. “It’s validating to see their work recognized nationally.”

Season Six, “In Our Own Voices,” features eight first-person stories on issues ranging from school bullying to the impact of school metal detectors to the treatment of students with learning disabilities. Because the contest limits audio entries to 60 minutes, The Bell’s team submitted four episodes that demonstrated the season’s breadth of topics and storytelling styles:

• Episode 1: “The only person who believed in me”

• Episode 3: “The chance to be themselves”

• Episode 4: “As if I were a criminal”

• Episode 8: “She would have fallen through the cracks”

“Love the narrator introducing herself in the first episode, the impact the other students’ stories had on her and her takeaway message,” wrote one judge. “Throughout the series, I appreciated the students’ honesty and vulnerability and great writing that brought the scenes to life. Love how the data was interwoven into the storytelling in episode three. This is a powerful series.”

Eight Miseducation student interns reported stories for “In Our Own Voices”: Amina Sanders, Mardiya Rafat, Alexandra Cruz, Kennedy Lesaine, Fatimah Asad, Adnan Bhuiyan, Adnaan Elahi and Janell Mayo.

“Our students joined the program with little to no journalism or audio experience,” said Mira Gordon, The Bell’s site manager. “What they accomplished in a few short months — amid a pandemic, while juggling academic and personal responsibilities — is very impressive. I’m so proud of them.”

Members of The Bell’s staff plan to attend the Education Writers Association National Seminar June 1-4 in Atlanta. The awards presentation is scheduled for June 3.

The Education Writers Association is a professional member organization that works to strengthen the community of education journalists and improve the quality of education coverage. Read the full list of finalists for 2022 National Awards for Education Reporting.