Mallory Noe-Payne, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2013 with degrees in communication and political science, was honored with an award from Public Radio News Directors Inc (PRNDI).

The Richmond, Virginia, reporter for RADIO IQ/WVTF, Noe-Payne won first place in the Spot News category for her story: It’s Hard Not To Love Her.

The awards recognize “the work of reporting, editing, anchoring, and producing at local public media radio stations across the U.S.” One hundred and ninety awards were presented at PRNDI’s annual conference on June 23.

Noe-Payne joined WVTF in June 2017 as a full-time reporter based in Richmond. Her earlier reporting for the public radio station led to a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association and a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

A native Virginian, Noe-Payne has also worked as an associate producer and production assistant at WGBH, a public radio station in Boston. There, she helped produce stories about higher education, including a nationally airing series on the German university system.

Noe-Payne’s award was presented in Division B, comprising stations with four to seven full-time news staff members. Public Radio News Directors Inc. represents more than 1,100 full-time working journalists at approximately 120 public media radio stations.

Written by Mark Owczarski