WKSU HONORED WITH ELEVEN 2009 OHIO SPJ AWARDS
WKSU NAMED BEST NEWS OPERATION IN OHIO
Friday October 23, 2009

WKSU has received eleven Ohio SPJ Awards from Ohio chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) for the organization’s competition honoring work created in 2008. Awards were presented on Sat., Oct. 3 during a luncheon ceremony on the Belle of Cincinnati riverboat. Since the addition of broadcast categories in 1998, WKSU has been recognized with more Ohio SPJ awards than any other radio news outlet – including, with this win, being named Best News Operation five times. WKSU competes in the category of “Broadcast Radio-Large Market” that includes journalists from the primary media markets throughout Ohio and surrounding states.

WKSU winners of 2008 Ohio SPJ Awards were:

•     Best of Show – Best News Operation in Ohio, News Director M.L. Schultze and News Staff (body of work-2008).

•     Best of Show – Best Anchor, Reporter/Host Vivian Goodman for “All Things Considered.”

•     Best of Show – Best Web Site, Senior LAN Administrator Chuck Poulton and Multimedia Developer Scott Sharp.

•     Best of Show: Second Place – Best Reporter in Ohio, M.L. Schultze.

•     First Place – Best Consumer Reporting, Reporter/Producer Kevin Niedermier for “Making Buildings Green.”

•     First Place – Best Environmental Reporting, Reporter/Producer Karen Schaefer for “Natural Burial.”

•     First Place – Best Feature Reporting, Reporter/Producer Jeff St. Clair for “Insect Orchestra.”

•     First Place – Best General Assignment Reporting, Reporter/Producer Amanda Rabinowitz for “Bridgestone Firestone Stays in Akron.”

•     First Place – Best Health Care Feature Reporting, Goodman for “Music and the Brain.”

•     First Place – Best Investigative Reporting, Schultze for “The Scorched Earth of Evergreen.”

•     Second Place – Best Minority Issues Coverage, Goodman for “The 40th Anniversary of the Glenville Riots.”

The 2009 Ohio SPJ Awards competition honors print and broadcast journalists from Ohio and bordering states who best served the public interest in 2008. The awards, which are presented by the Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland chapters of the SPJ, were judged by members of SPJ chapters throughout the U.S.

WKSU broadcasts NPR & Classical Music at 89.7 FM, and is a service of Kent State University. WKSU programming is also heard on WKRW 89.3 FM in Wooster, WKRJ 91.5 FM in Dover/New Philadelphia, WKSV 89.1 FM in Thompson, WNRK 90.7 in Norwalk, W298BA 107.5 FM in Boardman, and W239AZ 95.7 FM in Ashland. The station broadcasts three HD Radio channels – adding WKSU-2 Folk Alley and WKSU-3 The Classical Channel to the analog broadcast schedule. The Classical Channel can also be heard in Cleveland at 107.3 HD-3. The WKSU web site is www.wksu.org.

PR09.14                      ###                 10/25/09

(Back to press releases )