2008 Woodie Awards
NPR host receives DU award
Diverse, untold stories honored at conference
Daliah Singer
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: News
[A link to video of the event can be found at the bottom of this page]
Renee Montagne traveled to an apartheid South Africa to speak to locals about their experiences. She went to Afghanistan to report on refugees, walking through streets littered with broken ceramic pieces with a scarf covering her head and face in order to speak to people in a country where women did not have any rights. Never during the experiences was Montagne scared.
But, when she stood on the ruins of a 180-foot Buddha in the Bamyan Valley of central Afghanistan, Montagne feared for her life.
The two standing Buddha sculptures were dynamited and destroyed by the Taliban in 2001
"(That was) the only time I was ever scared," said Montagne, who is scared of heights.
Montagne was visiting DU Friday as the keynote speaker and Anvil of Freedom Award recipient. She was presented the award at the Estlow Center conference "Untold Stories: Truth and Consequences."
The NPR Morning Edition host spoke to an audience of almost 200 people in the Cable Center about her career spent telling untold stories of diverse communities.
"My entire career more or less has been devoted to telling untold stories," said Montagne.
She is the first professional radio journalist to be nominated and receive the award.
Her nomination resulted from her reports on homelessness in California and the problem with race relations in Jena, La., where white and black high school students got involved in a fight.
Montagne said her early work as a freelance journalist prepared her for finding and telling these stories. As freelancer, said Montagne, "We really had to fend for ourselves. We had to find our stories and they had to be different."
Finding the untold story is important, said Montagne, but it must be done in a considerate way.
"It is important to engage respectfully with diverse people," said Montagne in her keynote address. "Journalism can only be about the truth; you cannot focus on the consequences."
Renee Montagne traveled to an apartheid South Africa to speak to locals about their experiences. She went to Afghanistan to report on refugees, walking through streets littered with broken ceramic pieces with a scarf covering her head and face in order to speak to people in a country where women did not have any rights. Never during the experiences was Montagne scared.
But, when she stood on the ruins of a 180-foot Buddha in the Bamyan Valley of central Afghanistan, Montagne feared for her life.
The two standing Buddha sculptures were dynamited and destroyed by the Taliban in 2001
"(That was) the only time I was ever scared," said Montagne, who is scared of heights.
Montagne was visiting DU Friday as the keynote speaker and Anvil of Freedom Award recipient. She was presented the award at the Estlow Center conference "Untold Stories: Truth and Consequences."
The NPR Morning Edition host spoke to an audience of almost 200 people in the Cable Center about her career spent telling untold stories of diverse communities.
"My entire career more or less has been devoted to telling untold stories," said Montagne.
She is the first professional radio journalist to be nominated and receive the award.
Her nomination resulted from her reports on homelessness in California and the problem with race relations in Jena, La., where white and black high school students got involved in a fight.
Montagne said her early work as a freelance journalist prepared her for finding and telling these stories. As freelancer, said Montagne, "We really had to fend for ourselves. We had to find our stories and they had to be different."
Finding the untold story is important, said Montagne, but it must be done in a considerate way.
"It is important to engage respectfully with diverse people," said Montagne in her keynote address. "Journalism can only be about the truth; you cannot focus on the consequences."
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