WKSU HONORED WITH NINE 2005 OHIO SPJ AWARDS
WKSU MAINTAINS RECORD AS MOST-LAUDED RADIO NEWS ORGANIZATION
Tuesday September 20, 2005

WKSU received nine Ohio SPJ Awards from Ohio chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Sat., Sept. 17 during a ceremony at Cincinnati's Newport Aquarium. Since the addition of broadcast categories in 1998, WKSU has been recognized with more Ohio SPJ awards than any other radio news outlet. In 2005, the station's honors once again outnumbered those of all other radio organizations. The WKSU news staff 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 2005 Ohio SPJ Awards were:

•     First Place – Best Investigative Reporting, WKSU Program Director Vincent Duffy for "Asbestos Litigation Reform."
Judges Comments: "In 2004, Ohio became the first state to pass a law specifying that those exposed to asbestos, but not yet sick, could not sue. This fantastic investigative report gets into all the particulars – we've never heard anything this complex told so well in so relatively little time."

•     First Place – Best Consumer Reporting, Reporter/Producer Julie Grant for "Men vs. Women Shoppers."
Judges Comments: "With Christmas approaching, the reporter takes a look at how men and women approach holiday shopping differently. Creative and fun."

•     First Place – Best Social Justice Reporting, Grant for "Urban Housing."
Judges Comments: "This report about another kind of housing segregation – economic segregation – hits right to the mark."

•     Second Place – Best Coverage of Children's Issues, Reporter/Producer Vivian Goodman for "Homeless Single Dad."
Judges Comments: "There essentially isn't such a thing as a homeless shelter for dads and their kids on the streets, just a shelter for moms and their kids. This instructive report addresses the unfairness of it."

•     Second Place – Best Coverage of the Environment, Grant for "Harvesting the Mohican Forest."
Judges Comments: "This is far more than just a walk in the woods. Very informative."

•     Second Place – Best Consumer Reporting, Reporter/Producer Kevin Niedermier for "Millennials Go Shopping."
Judges Comments: "This segment does a good job of analyzing the shopping habits of young people, the credit cards and everything."

•     Second Place – Best Coverage of Minority Issues, Reporter Diana Keough for "Christians Changing Orientation."
Judges Comments: "This broaches a fascinating question: 'What happens when devout Christians decide they are honestly homosexual?'"

•     Second Place – Best Criminal Justice Reporting, Niedermier for "Privacy Act."
Judges Comments: "The reporter does a splendid job of outlining new homeland security practices, and the potential of local damage done."

•     Second Place – Best Documentary, Executive Producer Mark Urycki and the WKSU Newsroom for "Teenagers: The Millennial Generation."
Judges Comments: "[The documentary] poses, then investigates the premise that children coming of age right now are fundamentally different from previous generations. A comprehensive analysis."

The 2005 Ohio SPJ Awards competition honors print and broadcast journalists from Ohio and bordering states who best served the public interest in 2004. The awards, which are presented by the Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland chapters of the SPJ, were judged by members of chapters in Connecticut, Honolulu, San Diego, Florida, Chicago and Houston.

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, and WNRK 90.7 in Norwalk. The WKSU web site is www.wksu.org.

PR05. 23      ###      9/20/05

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