NPR Illinois/WUIS reporter Brian Mackey wins regional Murrow Award

NPR Illinois/WUIS radio reporter Brian Mackey has been honored by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTNDA) with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the hard news category.

The fourteen regional winners in each category are now in competition for a national Murrow Award, to be decided later this year. WUIS is the public radio station of the University of Illinois Springfield.

Mackey’s winning story, part of his State of the State podcast series on Illinois Edition, explores why young people are more likely to make false confessions to law enforcement. The story focuses on the case of Trevon Yates, who confessed to St. Clair County sheriff’s investigators that he took part in a violent armed robbery in Belleville, Ill. After spending nine months in jail, charges were dropped and the county eventually paid him a settlement of $900,000.

In the story, Mackey reports on why the most effective interrogation techniques, when used on juveniles, often lead to false confessions.

Mackey covers state government and politics for NPR Illinois/WUIS and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. He was previously A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.