In a ceremony held May 18 in Columbus, Ohio, WKSU was honored with seven awards from the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors Association, including a second-place award for Best News Operation. The event celebrated the best journalism in Ohio. It is the second year that contests for print and broadcast reporting were combined.
Amanda Rabinowitz was recognized with a first-place award for her work as local anchor for NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Rabinowitz has been a reporter, host and producer at WKSU since 2007. She is adjunct faculty at the University of Akron, teaching undergraduate classes in journalism and broadcasting.
A first-place award went to reporters M.L. Schultze and Tim Rudell for their continuing coverage of hydraulic fracturing – or “fracking.” The controversial practice injects fluid into shale deposits in order to extract natural gas. Schultze and Rudell covered the topic from many angles (access to natural resources, job development, economic growth, water and air quality), without taking sides, to give listeners the best information on a difficult subject. Schultze also received a second-place award for Best Breaking News.
Reporter Jeff St. Clair took home a first-place award for Best Enterprise Reporting for his ongoing “Exploradio” series. Innovation and creativity happens everywhere, but in Northeast Ohio, there has been an atmosphere of almost urgent reinvention. St. Clair’s focus on scientific breakthrough and innovative thinking produced regionally offered listeners thought-provoking profiles of important projects that were often in their early stages. A story from the series on experiments surrounding the strength of trees earned St. Clair a second-place award for Best Sound.
WKSU was the first-place winner for Best Use of Multimedia. Under the direction of Chuck Poulton, the award was based on the quality of the station’s website and social media efforts. The judges said, “Easy to use site. Fairly newsy. Easy to find audio and programs. Facebook page was interesting and interactive with good pictures. Enjoyed the Quick Bites page.”
WKSU is an award-winning public radio station and service of Kent State University that broadcasts to 22 counties throughout Northeast Ohio from the station’s primary signal at 89.7. WKSU content also can be heard over WKRW 89.3 (Wooster), WKRJ 91.5 (Dover/New Philadelphia), WKSV 89.1 (Thompson), WNRK 90.7 (Norwalk) and W239AZ 95.7 (Ashland). The station adds WKSU-2 Folk Alley, WKSU-3 The Classical Channel and WKSU-4 The News Channel over HD Radio and as streaming audio at www.wksu.org.
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Media Contact:
Ann VerWiebe, verwiebe@wksu.org, 330-672-9153