Bill Churchwell
Recipient of the Best television reporter award in The Charles E. Green Awards (2024)
Bill Churchwell, KIII
Marcelino Benito, KHOU
Judge’s Comments:
Bill Churchwell is a talented storyteller who brings a great deal of passion and energy to his reporting.
In his hurricane package and live shot, he wrote to his video effectively and used natural sound to enhance the viewer experience. He made sure he interviewed people impacted by the storm, weaving them into his storytelling.
In the five stories I viewed, Bill crafted his stories by putting real-people at the center, they were the focus. That is a storytelling technique too often neglected by TV reporters. Afterall, "real-people" watch TV news stories, so TV news stories should be focused around the people impacted by what's being reported.
Bill effectively edited natural sound throughout his stories, helping the pace and also bringing the video to life.
His story about the city water supply showed Bill can take on a complicated subject and make it interesting. I especially liked how he opened the story, with before- and -after video of a reservoir that is experiencing low water levels. That before-and-after sequence was effective in showing the viewer how dire the water shortage has become.
Above all Bill showed a real passion for his work. And that passion demonstrates that Bill truly loves what he does.
Judge: Frank Volpicella
Judge’s Bio:
Frank Volpicella is a veteran journalist and TV news director who recently semi-retired after a 43-year career in TV news. Volpicella served as news director at stations in Atlanta, Austin, Tulsa, Lexington and Huntsville, Alabama. He was news director at KVUE in Austin for 16 years. During his time at KVUE the station won a Peabody award and a national Edward R. Murrow award for Overall Excellence.
Volpicella also worked as a reporter, producer, executive producer, special projects producer and managing editor at stations in Jacksonville, Florida, Oklahoma City and Tampa Florida.
He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelors degree in Broadcast Journalism.
To see the award-winning television reporting from Churchwell, visit the link below: