KOMU Faculty and Students Win 17 Heart of America Awards
KOMU and KBIA Also Win at Missouri Broadcasters Association Contest
Columbia, Mo. (June 18, 2008) — The Missouri School of Journalism’s radio-television journalism faculty, staff and students took home multiple awards from two prestigious competitions this spring: the Kansas City Press Club Heart of America Awards and the Missouri Broadcasters Association Awards.
KOMU won 17 Heart of America Awards in the annual Kansas City Press Club competition and was named “Television Station of the Year,” beating out two Kansas City stations, WDAF and KMBC, for the title. KOMU is the only university-owned commercial television affiliate that uses its newsroom as a working lab for students. The station won eight gold, five silver and three bronze awards, in addition to an honorable mention. With the eight gold medals, KOMU won all of the small market television categories. The station also won a silver award in the news Web site category and received laudatory comments from the judges.
“KOMU’s fantastic and easy-to-navigate site also saves lives with its comprehensive weather coverage,” the judges said.
The Kansas City Press Club uses the Heart of America Awards to honor outstanding reporting, writing and photography in print, broadcast and online journalism in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
“To beat out top news organizations in Kansas City and St. Louis in so many categories is a true testament to the hard work and dedication to the staff at KOMU,” said KOMU General Manager Marty Siddall. “It is an honor for our students, reporters, producers and anchors to be recognized by both the KC Press Club and the Missouri Broadcasters Association as they continue to demonstrate KOMU’s dedication to excellence.”
In the Missouri Broadcasters Association (MBA) awards also announced this spring, KOMU and KBIA, the School’s NPR-affiliate radio station used to train students, earned six awards total.
KOMU won both the documentary and sports feature categories and received certificates of merit in the weathercast, news series and complete newscast categories. KBIA took home a certificate of merit in the documentary category.
MBA encourages the highest standards in broadcasting by recognizing samples of excellence and achievement. Hundreds of entries from across the state are received each year and considered for the awards.
“Our entire staff, from the students to the anchors, works hard every day to produce the best newscast possible,” said KOMU News Director and Associate Professor Stacey Woelfel. “It is evident with these awards that their work exemplifies the quality that is the cornerstone of KOMU News.”
Kansas City Press Club Heart of America Awards
Gold
- Best Newscast
Senior Shayla Krile, producer for News @ 5 (Dec. 6, 2007), KOMU - General Reporting
Senior Jason Lamb, “Disaster on Ice,” KOMU - Investigative Reporting
August Skamenca (senior at submission), Scott Schaefer and senior Ryan Luby, “$46 Billion Gamble,” KOMU - Regular Franchise Feature
Sarah Hill, Scott Schaefer, Brad Noblitt and senior Ryan Luby, “Sarah’s Stories,” KOMU - Feature
Megan Murphy and Scott Schaefer, “Callaway Creek Club,” KOMU - Photojournalism
Scott Schaefer, “Missouri Contemporary Ballet,” KOMU - Sports
Eric Blumberg, “Race Walker,” KOMU - Documentary
Scott Schaefer and Sarah Hill, “Mercy in Motion,” KOMU
Silver
- News Web Site
Jen Reeves, Stacey Woelfel, KOMU.com - Best Newscast
Master’s student Melissa Chee, News @ 6 (Dec. 11, 2007), KOMU - General Reporting
Senior Ashley Reynolds, “Combating Autism from Within,” KOMU - Photojournalism
Scott Schaefer, “Callaway Creek Club,” KOMU - Regular Franchise Feature
Megan Murphy, Scott Schaefer and Brad Noblitt, “Coverage from Callaway,” KOMU
Bronze
- Best Newscast Category
Senior Jen Ayres, News @ 5 (Dec. 11, 2007), KOMU - Photojournalism Category
Scott Schaefer, “Whitewater Adventure,” KOMU - Regular Franchise Feature
Jim Riek and Scott Schaefer, “The Follow Up Files,” KOMU
Honorable Mention
- Regular Franchise Feature
Angie Bailey, Scott Schaefer, senior Ryan Luby and Brad Noblitt, “Your Health with Angie Bailey,” KOMU
Missouri Broadcasters Association Awards
Winner
- Documentary/Public Affairs
Sarah Hill and Scott Schaefer, “Mercy in Motion,” KOMU - Sports Feature
Eric Blumberg, “T-Ball with Heart,” KOMU
Certificate of Merit
- Documentary/Public Affairs
Janet Saidi and master’s student Catherine Wolf, “Living in the Lead Belt,” KBIA - Best Weathercast
Dave Schmidt, January 2008, KOMU - News Series
Sarah Hill and Scott Schaefer, “Sarah’s Stories: Vietnam Amputees,” KOMU - Complete Newscast Category
KOMU @ 10, Feb. 12, 2008
Updated: April 28, 2020