Over 70 Years of Recognizing Excellence in the Communication of Religious Issues, Values, and Themes in Public Media

Since 1949, the Wilbur Awards have been presented annually to recognize excellence in the communication of religious issues, values, and themes in public secular media. Through the awards, the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) recognizes the work of individuals, production companies and agencies as they communicate about religious issues, values and themes with professionalism, fairness, respect and honesty. Past winners include Morgan Freeman, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Pauley, Mister Rogers, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC’s 20/20, Meet the Press, Vanity Fair, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the New York Times.

2020 Wilbur Awards Sponsor

We are honored to have the Wilbur Awards for 2020 underwritten by Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa, OK.

The seminary, at its core, is a community of teachers and learners seeking to be faithful to God through disciplined, reasoned and reflective study of scripture, religious tradition and human experience. We offer courses online and on-campus with students across the U.S. and abroad.

National or Top 15 metro markets (single article, series of articles, special section, religion page)

Sikh Drivers are Transforming U.S. Trucking,” (series: “Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway,” “How a rural Oklahoma truck stop became a destination for Sikh Punjabis crossing America,” “Behind the Story: On a search for Sikh truckers”) Jaweed Kaleem, reporter; Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California

All other markets (single article, series of articles, special section, religion page)

“Coverings,” Peter Smith, religion editor; Stephanie Strasburg, staff photographer; Shelly Bradbury, public-safety reporter; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

MAGAZINE ARTICLES (print and online)

All Markets

“On the Road with Thomas Merton,” Fred Bahnson, essayist; Jeremy Seifert, filmmaker; Emergence Magazine, Inverness, California

Fiction

“The Dearly Beloved,” Cara Wall, author; Simon & Schuster, New York, New York

Non-fiction

“Sacred Liberty,” Steven Waldman, author; HarperOne, HarperCollins, Brooklyn, New York

Feature Length Film

“Breaking Bread,” Beth Elise Hawk, writer, producer & director; Jon Fitzgerald & Travis Knox, executive producers; Martin Goldenberg, Michelle Harrison, Issie Rabinovitch, Lois Schottenstein, associate producers; Ofer Ben Yehuda, director of photography; Jonty Fine & Itai Levin, editors; Omar El-Deeb, music; Gemini Girls Productions, Santa Monica, California

Documentary (30 min.+)

“American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel,” Jeanine Butler & Catherine Butler, directors & producers; Jamie Lee Godfrey, editor; Peter Hutchens, camera; Butlerfilms in association with Contemporary Dialogues, Charlottesville, Virginia

Online News Stories

“The Reckoning,” The Associated Press Staff; The Associated Press New York, New York

Drama

“Jesus: His Life,” Ben Goold, Jane Root, Joel Osteen, D. Emerson Iloff, Mary Donahue, Evan Lerner, executive producers; Simon Breen, series producer; Joshua Hyams, Alex Dwiar, Jackelyn Viera Lloff, producers; Adrian McDowall, Craig Pickles, Ashley Pearce, directors; Joe Ainsworth, Ed Selleck, Anna McPartlin, Lauren Klee, writers; produced by Nutopia; History, A&E Network, New York, New York

News – network or national syndication (up to 4 min.)

“The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell: WWE Wrestler Fights Stereotypes,” Jim Axelrod, correspondent; Kimberly Godwin and Jay Shaylor, executive producers; Alturo Rhymes, senior producer; Sharaf Mowjood, producer; CBS News, New York, New York

News – network or national syndication (8 min.+)

“CBS News 60 Minutes: Tree of Life,” Lesley Stahl, correspondent; Shachar Bar-On, producer; Kate Morris, associate producer; April Wilson, editor; Bill Owens; executive producer; Tanya Simon, executive editor; 60 Minutes, CBS News, New York, New York

Documentary (up to 30 min.)

“In Bad Faith: Child Sex Abuse and the Catholic Church,” Paul Abowd, producer; Natasha Del Toro, correspondent; Laila Al-Arian, executive producer; Erik Ljung and Stephen Bailey, dp; Paul Abowd, additional photography; Warwick Meade, editor; Fault Lines, Al Jazeera English, Washington, D.C.

Interview

Face the Nation – Bipartisan Prayer, Margaret Brennan, moderator; Mary Hager, executive producer; Catherine Reynolds, senior producer; Jake Miller, producer; Alison Hawley director; CBS News, Washington, D.C.

Single Program

“‘Blue Christmas’ Services Offer Refuge From Holiday Cheer” Deena Prichep, reporter; Jason DeRose, editor, freelance broadcast on NPR, Portland, OR

Series of Programs (two or more)

“On Freedom Road: The Roots and Fruits of U.S. Exploitation of Immigrant Labor,” David Dault, producer, audio engineer, and editor; Lisa Sharon Harper, executive producer & host; Freedom Road, producing organization; Sojourners, partnering organization; The Work of the People, partnering organization; Sandburg Media, LLC, Chicago, Illinois