WKSU Recognized With Two Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards From RTDNA

WKSU has been honored with two Regional Edward R. Murrow awards from the Radio-Television-Digital News Association (RTDNA). The organization received thousands of regional entries in categories covering radio, television and online journalism. WKSU competes in the Large Market division against public and commercial radio stations in major cities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. The Regional Murrow Awards was presented during the Ohio AP Broadcasters award ceremony on June 3 in Columbus.

All Regional Murrow award winners are automatically eligible for the national awards competition. WKSU’s awards were in the Audio Continuing Coverage and Broadcast Affiliated Website categories.

Tim Rudell’s coverage of fracking – a process involving injecting water and chemicals into shale to extract natural gas – began long before the word gathered national buzz. In 2011, his stories increased as drilling rigs sprang up throughout Northeast Ohio. Rudell’s Murrow Award submission is made up of 10 reports on fracking and related issues, and includes input from geothermal energy experts in Switzerland, discussion of the effect of massive tankers on the rural infrastructure, and an examination into the association between wastewater disposal wells and earthquakes near Youngstown.

WKSU.org, the station’s website, is created and maintained by station staff led by Director of IT Chuck Poulton and Web Developer Joe Linstrum. With four distinct audio streams for live listening, extended playlists, transcripts and images to accompany archived news reports, arts and cultural features, and more, the WKSU website is a one-stop content portal for fans of WKSU’s public radio programming.

RTDNA is the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. It has honored outstanding achievement in electronic journalism with Murrow Awards since 1971. Entries in the national awards contest will be judged this June.

WKSU broadcasts NPR and 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 and W239AZ 95.7 FM in Ashland. The station broadcasts four HD Radio channels – adding WKSU-2 Folk Alley, WKSU-3 The Classical Channel and WKSU-4 The News Channel to the analog broadcast schedule.

For more information, visit the WKSU website at www.wksu.org.