Little Rock Public Radio Employees Take Home Top Honors in Arkansas SPJ Awards

Little Rock Public Radio News Director Daniel Breen receives a Diamond Journalism Award from Heather Baker.
Little Rock Public Radio News Director Daniel Breen receives a Diamond Journalism Award from Host Heather Baker.

journalists scored high marks in the 2025 Diamond Journalism Awards presented by the Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Politics and Government Reporter Josie Lenora took home four first-place awards. Lenora鈥檚 story 鈥溾 earned top honors in the news category. Lenora and All Things Considered Anchor/Reporter Maggie Ryan were finalists in the same category for their respective stories 鈥溾 and 鈥.鈥

Lenora also took first place in the Politics category for her story 鈥Finding a tasteful design for Arkansas鈥 鈥榤onument to the unborn鈥 has been fraught鈥 which aired on NPR鈥檚 All Things Considered. She was also a finalist in the same category  of the 2024 special session of the Arkansas Legislature.

Ryan won a first-place honor in the Education category for her story 鈥.鈥 Lenora was a finalist in the category for two stories: 鈥溾 and 鈥.鈥

In the Ongoing Coverage category, Lenora won first place for her story 鈥.鈥

鈥淭horough reporting that firmly explains the origins of the conspiracy theory and shows how a misunderstood process really works,鈥 a judge鈥檚 comment reads.

LRPR News Director Daniel Breen was a finalist in the same category for his story 鈥溾

Breen won first place in the Arts and Entertainment category for his story 鈥,鈥 while Ryan was a finalist for her story 鈥.鈥

Breen and Lenora shared a first-place honor in the Features category for their story 鈥溾 Morning Edition Anchor/Reporter Nathan Treece was a finalist in that category for his story 鈥.鈥

Treece was also a finalist in the Enterprise/Explanatory Reporting category for his story 鈥’.鈥