SEATTLE -- The Oregonian/OregonLive won five Northwest Regional Emmy Awards at a ceremony Saturday night for the series “Ghosts of Highway 20,” the most ambitious documentary project undertaken by the newsroom to date.
The newsroom had nine nominations in the contest sponsored by the Northwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. That’s the most ever in a single year for the news organization. Eight were for “Ghosts” and one for Teresa Mahoney’s explanatory video on Oregon PERS.
.@noellecrombie wins first Emmy of the night for #GhostsofHighway20 could not be more thrilled pic.twitter.com/z4L5dsAhhs
— Beth Nakamura (@bethnakamura) June 9, 2019
Noelle Crombie won her first Emmy for reporting on the “Ghosts” series, a five-part narrative documentary that accompanied her print series in December. Videographer Dave Killen won for writing and directing, and freelancer John Angier for the musical composition. The series won best documentary in the topical category for the work of the team, which included photojournalist Beth Nakamura and project editor Margaret Haberman. Mahoney also helped edit the “Ghosts” series.
Five is the most Emmys won by the newsroom in a single year. The “Nora” project brought home two last year. Other nominations for “Ghosts” were Killen for editing and photography and freelancer John Bowen for audio.
The “Ghosts” project revealed the lengthy life of violence of a man, John Ackroyd, who had previously not been known to be a serial killer. The team’s reporting for the first time made public that Ackroyd had pleaded no contest to the death of his stepdaughter. The series also established his likely culpability in the deaths of two teenagers.
This post was modified to correct the overall total of wins.