“In local, what do we have to do? We have to take municipal budget numbers -  complicated - and break that down for the viewer: ‘This is really what it means for you and your neighborhood.’ But now this... We had positivity rates, rate of transmission. What does all this mean that I'm being bombarded with? And you have to do that when we know the viewer is filled with anxiety and fear. And frankly, so were we.“  - David Ushery, WNBC Anchor and 2021 duPont-Columbia Award Winner

In this episode of On Assignment, WNBC Anchor David Ushery talks about reporting on the coronavirus pandemic last spring, as New York City became the epicenter of a pandemic. 

The WNBC team brought viewers vital life and death information about COVID, day after day, in real time. Their comprehensive reporting won a 2021 duPont-Columbia award. 

In this conversation with duPont Awards Director Lisa R. Cohen, Ushery recounts the uncertainty of the pandemic’s early days, his team’s commitment to transparently inform viewers as they learned more, and how WNBC reporters and photographers grappled with the fear of reporting on a highly infectious virus.

The interview includes Ushery receiving the good news that he and the team were duPont winners. You can see his reaction, here!

To watch the 2021 duPont Awards ceremony and to learn more about other 2021 duPont winners and finalists, visit duPont.org. You can also watch the ceremony on PBS digital channels.

Follow us on Twitter @columbiajourn, or on Facebook at facebook.com/duPontColumbiaAwards.