WKSU, a public radio station and service of Kent State University, was honored by the Press Club of Cleveland with 12 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards at a ceremony held June 6 at the House of Blues in downtown Cleveland. The station won three first-place and two best-in-show awards, including Best Website in Ohio – a category that drew from the best of radio, TV, newspaper and magazine websites – and Best Newscast. Award entries were judged by a panel of journalism professionals from press clubs and news publications across the country.
WKSU winners of 2014 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards from the Press Club of Cleveland are:
In the New Media division:
Best in Show – Best Website in Ohio, IT Director Chuck Poulton and staff for “WKSU.org.”
Judges said: Well organized, lots of news, interesting features. Very well done!
First Place – Best Radio Website, IT Director Chuck Poulton and staff for “WKSU.org.”
Judges said: Easy to read and listen to the current news. Additional tabs for subjects. Easy to navigate.
Second Place – Best Use of Social Media, Reporter/Producer Vivian Goodman for “Quick Bites Facebook Page.”
In the Radio division:
Best in Show – Radio Newscast, Reporter/Producer Amanda Rabinowitz for “WKSU’s Morning Edition.”
Each weekday, Rabinowitz arrives at WKSU at 4 a.m. in order to bring Northeast Ohio the best in local, regional and national news.
First Place – Ongoing Coverage, Reporters/Producers M.L. Schultze and Tim Rudell for “Fracking Looms Large.”
Reporters covered multiple angles surrounding the controversial practice of injecting fluid into shale deposits in order to extract natural gas.
First Place – Human Interest, Schultze for “Young and Homeless in Cleveland.”
A profile of young people living on the streets in Cleveland and social service organizations reaching out to help them.
Second Place – General News, Reporter/Producer Kevin Niedermier for “Building on the Success of the Senior Games.”
Second Place – Public Service, Rabinowitz for “Hate Crimes Have LGBT Community on Edge.”
Second Place – Use of Sound, Reporter/Producer Jeff St. Clair for “Exploradio: When a Tree Falls in the Woods.”
Third Place – General News, Rudell for “Homegrown Rubber in Northeast Ohio.”
Third Place – Public Service, St. Clair for “Exploradio: Engineering a Chiari Breakthrough.”
Third Place – Human Interest, Reporter/Producer Mark Urycki for “Punk and New Wave Roots in Northeast Ohio.”
The Ohio Excellence in Journalism contest is a statewide competition for the best in print, broadcast and digital journalism. More than 800 entries were submitted for consideration.
WKSU is an award-winning public radio station and service of Kent State 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