OHIO ASSOCIATED PRESS BROADCASTERS HONORS WKSU

Monday June 6, 2005

WKSU was recognized with five awards on Sunday, May 22 by the Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters (OAPB) at the organization's annual meeting in Columbus. The station competed with other commercial and non-commercial radio operations in the largest markets in Ohio, including Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and the Ohio News Network. WKSU morning news host Leonard Will was inducted into the Ohio AP Broadcasters Hall of Fame during the ceremony.

WKSU Program Director Vincent Duffy was recognized with a first place award for Best Investigative Reporting for his report on asbestos litigation reform. Duffy's piece details the complicated legal actions surrounding the prioritizing of cases from claimants who are ill with mesothelioma, a rare, terminal lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. It was the third year in a row that WKSU was honored by the OAPB for an investigative report.

When Spencer Tunick chose downtown Cleveland as the location for a massive photo session featuring thousands of people posing in their birthday suits, Duffy sent a most unlikely candidate to cover the event. Guest commentator Diana Keough earned a first place award for Broadcast Writing by vividly chronicling the artist happening, including her obvious discomfort with standing naked alongside a crowd of total strangers.

Second place honors were presented to Executive Producer Mark Urycki and the WKSU Newsroom for Best Documentary for the 10-part series "Teenagers: The Millennial Generation" and to Senior LAN Administrator Chuck Poulton for the WKSU web site. Urycki and Reporter/Producer Kevin Niedermier also received a Judge's Award for their on-site coverage of the Democratic and Republican national presidential conventions in the Extraordinary Coverage of a Scheduled Event category.

The OAPB aims to advance the profession of journalism, to cooperate with The Associated Press in the exchange of accurate, impartial news reports and to serve as liaison between The Associated Press and its members.

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, and WKSV 89.1 FM in Thompson. The WKSU website is www.wksu.org.

PR05.14 ### 6/06/05

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