NJ 101.5 wins 1st place award for report on hospital’s troubling vaccine rollout

The New Jersey 101.5 Newsroom is the recipient of yet another honor this year.

The New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists awarded its 1st Place Broadcast Award for Best COVID Coverage to Erin Vogt and her 2021 report about the vaccine rollout at one hospital, where wealthy donors and ineligible relatives were allowed to cut the line while more-at-risk residents were left to wait.

The report was based on information provided by an insider whistleblower whose identity New Jersey 101.5 agreed to protect.

After the story, Gov. Phil Murphy warned institutions that "monkey around" that they would face losing vaccine supply.

Other top-place honors in the COVID coverage category went to NorthJersey.com and The New York Times. The NJSPJ Excellence in Journalism Awards were announced Saturday at the Bernard Kilgore Center in Princeton.

This is the second time that New Jersey 101.5’s reporting on the COVID pandemic has been recognized by industry peers.

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Last year, the Radio Television Digital News Association bestowed the Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast for the March 17, 2020 edition of “New Jersey’s First News with Eric Scott,” which covered the first of the state’s business and school closures.

This year, the Townsquare Media station won the National Murrow Award for Best Newscast, specifically the Nov. 3, 2021 edition of "New Jersey's First News with Eric Scott," which was broadcast the morning after the state's gubernatorial Election Day.

New Jersey 101.5 this year was also a nominee for the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Radio Award for Best News/Talk Station in the nation.