Numerous AU students are finalists for national broadcasting awards
ASHLAND, Ohio – Several Ashland University Journalism and Digital Media students received finalist awards in the national Intercollegiate Broadcasting System awards competition for their work with university radio station WRDL and university television station AUTV-20.
The television finalists include:
- Best College/University Television Station (Top 7) - Lydia Bice, Evan Laux, Sean Repuyan, Alayna Ross, Carrie Smith
- Best Talk Program (Top 6) - The Main Street Show - Gracie Wilson
- Best Sports Report (Top 6) - Sports Break - Ben Voelker, Carrie Smith, Lewis Markham
The radio finalists include:
- Best Sports Play-By-Play Men’s Basketball (Top 6) - AU Men’s Basketball vs Wayne State - Niko Scarlatos, Dean Paolucci
- Best Campus/Community News (Top 7) - WRDL Community Calendar – Carrie Smith
- Best Newscast (Top 7) - News In 90 Seconds - Sean Repuyan
"JDM provides students an award-winning, hands-on learning experience designed to prepare and train students for the 21st-century media landscape," said WRDL faculty advisor and general manager Derek Wood. "Being honored by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System continues to bring national recognition to the program.”
AU is one of five Ohio colleges and universities with students among the finalists. The finalist trophies and the first-place awards will be presented during the 82nd annual IBS International Media Conference, which is being held virtually due to COVID-19 during the week of March 1. AU has received annual recognition from IBS since 2016.
The IBS is an organization with a membership of more than 1,000 non-profit, education-affiliated radio stations, television stations and webcasters. It was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in New Windsor, N.Y.
AU’s JDM program of radio, television and print journalism was created when the department converged its curriculum in 2010 in an effort to meet the challenges students will face upon entering an ever-converging media world.
“Ashland’s JDM program was indeed on the forefront of new media education regionally and nationally in 2010,” said AUTV-20 faculty advisor and department chair David McCoy. “Our program continues to be a model of rigorous academics reinforced by professional learning opportunities for 21st-century journalists.”
The program was recognized in 2012 as one of 47 journalism programs in the country that has fully converged its print and broadcast curriculum. Ashland University’s JDM program was the only journalism program in Ohio that received this distinction of the approximately 500 colleges and universities from across the country that have journalism programs.
Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.