FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 4, 2003

Media General TV Stations, Web Sites Earn Regional Murrow Awards

Richmond, Va. – Five Media General operations have won a total of ten regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for outstanding achievements in electronic journalism. Broadcast television stations in Virginia, Florida and Kansas, along with Web sites in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, earned the annual awards of the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA).

The television stations won in the categories of New Series, Continuing Coverage, Newscast, Writing, Sports Reporting, and Overall Excellence. The Web sites are judged as a category within the awards for broadcast television. Three properties won multiple awards. WSLS-TV in Roanoke, Va., won a Murrow award for Overall Excellence, the most prestigious category.

"Media General stations in large and small markets won Murrows," said Broadcast Division President Jim Zimmerman. "This reflects our commitment to covering local stories in depth and making them relevant to the lives of our viewers everywhere we operate."

This year's ten awards represent a net gain over 2002, when four Media General properties won a total of seven regional awards. In 2001, WSLS and TBO.com won national Murrow Awards. TBO.com was the first national winner in the Web site category, which was introduced that year.

According to Neal Fondren, president of Media General's Interactive Media Division, "It was gratifying to see our Internet operations in Tampa and Savannah win regional awards, as they have done in previous years. We were delighted to see them joined by our Web operation in the Mobile, Ala. - Pensacola, Fla. region."

The 2003 regional awards went to:

WFLA, Tampa, Fla., in Sports Reporting for "Training Partners," the story of a blind triathlete.

TBO.com, Tampa, for best regional Web site.

WKRG, Mobile, Ala., for best regional Web site, WKRG.com.

WSAV.com, Savannah, Ga., for best regional Web site.

KWCH, Wichita, Kan., in Continuing Coverage for "Carr Case Coverage," four months of stories about a mass murder case.

KWCH in News Series for "I-Team Moundridge," an exposé of a conflict of interest within a school district.

WSLS, Roanoke, Va., in Overall Excellence.

WSLS in Newscast for "Newschannel 10 at Six."

WSLS in Continuing Coverage for "The Short Family Murders," reports on a kidnap-murder case.

WSLS in Writing for "Timmy's Story," a human interest feature on a sick boy who loved baseball.

Regional award winners automatically compete for the national Edward R. Murrow Awards. National winners will be selected in June.

About Media General
Media General (NYSE:MEG) is an independent communications company situated primarily in the Southeast with interests in newspapers, television stations, interactive media and diversified information services. The company's publishing assets include The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Winston-Salem Journal and 22 other daily newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, as well as nearly 100 other periodicals and a 20 percent interest in The Denver Post. Media General's 26 network-affiliated television stations reach more than 30 percent of the television households in the Southeast, and nearly 8 percent of those in the United States. The company's extensive interactive media offerings include more than 50 online enterprises. Media General also has a 33 percent interest in SP Newsprint Co., which operates newsprint mills in Dublin, Ga., and Newberg, Ore.