WMAL News is proud to nominate our 8 am newscast of March 16, 2016 as Best Newscast in the 2017 Edward R. Murrow awards competition.

For the first time in its history, Washington’s Metrorail system was shut down system-wide for an entire day in the middle of the week to make emergency repairs following a series of smoke incidents – one of which left a woman dead.

The shutdown left hundreds of thousands of commuters scrambling to find other means to get to work, and WMAL News responded by putting reporters at crucial pulse points throughout the city to cover the story.

Our 8 am newscast on March 16th was a good representation of what team coverage is meant to be – clear, comprehensive and cohesive.  Our five minute newscast gives listeners everything they need to know to start their day – from help with commuter routes to reaction from confused riders to last night’s hockey score.