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.

Kansas City Press Club Logo
Kansas City Press Club Logo

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

Ryan Luby
Ryan Luby
August Skamenca
August Skamenca
Jason Lamb
Jason Lamb
Shayla Krile
Shayla Krile

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
Ashley Reynolds
Ashley Reynolds
Melissa Chee
Melissa Chee

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
Jen Ayres
Jen Ayres

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
Catherine Wolf
Catherine Wolf

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

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