Category: Media

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—WFSU Public Media’s podcast “Not So Black and White: A community’s divided history” took home a top prize at the 55th Annual Public Media Awards this week.

The National Educational Telecommunications Association’s (NETA) annual awards recognize outstanding work in public media. “Not So Black and White” was WFSU’s first foray into the long-form podcast space. The podcast explores the history of representation and inclusion in the Tallahassee and Leon County area. WFSU won first prize in the Community Engagement category for Local Project (Division 1).

“We are so proud of this project,” said WFSU General Manager David Mullins. “It deeply resonated with our community. For this work to also be recognized on a national level is a humbling and exciting experience.”

WFSU’s content team collaborated to create an in-depth podcast presentation that has garnered over 140,000 downloads. The project includes a comprehensive website with videos, photos, music, and an educational guide. The podcast and website covered education, land use, race, religion, culture, and stereotypes. WFSU also hosted an in-studio discussion with more than 100 community members in attendance.

“We sought diverse voices to tell the story of Tallahassee’s racial history, and that resonated with our audiences. It helped provide authenticity to the podcast and build trust with the listener,” said Kim Kelling, Director of Content and Community Partnerships.

NETA announced the awards on Sept. 10 at a pre annual conference gala ceremony.

“Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees and award winners,” said NETA President Eric Hyyppa. “This year the entries were exemplary, showcasing the best of the best from across the public media system.”

The Public Media Award in Community Engagement is the latest in a series of awards that WFSU Public Media has won for “Not So Black and White.” It joins three Regional RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards in the categories of Digital, Podcast, and Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The project also took home two Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Awards: first-place, Specialized Website and third-place, Digital Media Presentation. This past summer, the series was also recognized as a finalist in the Digital Programming category for the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists awards.

For the full list of NETA Public Media award winners visit the link below.

https://www.netaonline.org/news/55th-public-media-awards-winners

Reporting on problems with Medicaid, pandemic food benefits and other state issues facing lower-income Missourians earned The Missouri Independent the media award Thursday during Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s annual “For the Common Good Awards” luncheon in St. Louis.

The award, given for “significant contributions to promoting equal access to justice in our community” recognized the work of reporters Clara Bates and Rebecca Rivas and their stories on issues facing Legal Services clients, a news release stated.

Bates is a Report for America Corps member who has covered social services and poverty for The Independent since July 2022. Rivas is an original staff member of The Independent, and before its launch in 2020, she spent more than a decade reporting for the St. Louis American. Rivas covers criminal justice issues and has focused this year on the new legal marijuana industry.

In the program citation, Legal Services stated that The Independent earned the award for its coverage of issues that included problems with Medicaid, pandemic food benefits, SNAP benefits and homelessness, as well as spotlighting issues of access to justice.

“This annual event is a valued opportunity to show our deep appreciation for the volunteers and civic leaders who demonstrate exceptional dedication to furthering community engagement and foster networking and partnering on behalf of those who are in need of services that Legal Services provides,” said Dan Glazier, executive director and general counsel.

The media award is one of a dozen presented as part of the 42nd edition of the “For the Common Good” program.

Other recipients are:

• Lawrence J. Kettenbach, Jr., chair of the Board Facilities Committee — The Robert Walston Chubb Award for sustained commitment to Legal Services
• Enterprise Holdings, Inc. and Baker McKenzie — The Hon. Richard B. Teitelman Award for volunteer service
• Clair Antoine and the St. Louis Anti-Violence Project (STLAVP) — The Melton M. Lewis Equal Justice Award
• Orthodontic Centers of Missouri — The Melton M. Lewis Equal Justice Award
•  St. Joseph Housing Initiative — The Eddie Mae Binion Community Service Award
• Julia Chaney-Faughn — The F. Wm. McCalpin Pro Bono Award
• Jeffery T. McPherson — The F. Wm. McCalpin Pro Bono Award
• Rose Tanner — The Hon. John R. Essner Young Lawyer Award
• Ebony Sheckles — The Hon. John R. Essner Young Lawyer Award
• National Health Law Program — The Gerald R. Ortbals Law Practice Award
• Mayor Gary Johnson —The Rory Ellinger Legislator Award

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The urge to write sports happened early on for Kevin Ruple.

The Ashtabula graduate parlayed his love for sports into a 37-year career as Baldwin Wallace’s Sports Information Director.

Ruple, who retired at BW in 2020, was honored with the Ohio Athletic Conference’s Bill Nichols Media Award recently.

The award was created to recognize a member of the media who has demonstrated an understanding and passion for amateur athletics, while covering the students and programs of NCAA Division III and the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC).

For more than 30 years, Nichols worked at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He served as an adjunct lecturer at Baldwin-Wallace University and John Carroll University, as well as several other institutions.

“Bill is a special person and friend,” Ruple said. “When I was SID, I talked with Bill pretty much every day. We went golfing and we didn’t talk about the OAC … we talked about the Cleveland sports teams. He was like a second father to me.”

Ruple is the 14th recipient of the award. He also become the fourth former OAC Sports Information Director to earn the award joining Lenny Reich of the University of Mount Union (2022), Chris Wenzler of John Carroll University (2018) and Ed Syguda of Otterbein University (2016).

Syguda is also an Ashtabula graduate.

“We didn’t really know each other until we became SIDs,” Ruple said. “Ed and my brother, Mark, graduated in 1975.”

Others who have won the Nichols Award included: Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto in 2020 and the late Joe Tait, a prominent Cleveland sports and Mount Union football announcer.

“It’s an honor to be considered with those folks,” Ruple said.

He was named the Sports Information Director at BW on March 1, 1983.

Ruple was then promoted to Director of Athletic Communications and PublicRelations in October of 2016 and served in that capacity until his retirement .

During his 37 years, Ruple promoted thousands of student-athletes and was a key advocate of the student-athlete philosophy.

He was an active member of the College Sports Communicators, previously known as CoSIDA. He was a member of the Board of Directors as a College Division representative from 1994-98.

Ruple was also a member of the Academic All-America committee from 1997-2017 and served as the national chair for the football and at-large programs.

In addition, he served as the national coordinator for the Football Gazette Division III All-American committee for 13 years. Ruple was the President of the Ohio Athletic Conference Public Relations Task Force and on both the Sports Media Association of Cleveland and Ohio (SMACO) and the Cleveland Touchdown Club Charities, Inc. Board of Directors.

The Bill Nichols Media Award joins Ruple’s mantle of awards that he received during his career. He was recognized by his colleagues with the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement award in 2021, the Warren Berg Award in 2004, inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2008 and was the Lester Jordan Award in 2011.

“Working with the student-athletes and the relationships you build were special,” Ruple said. “At one point, we had 27 former SIDs in college athletics in some capacity. These kids have families and their kids are going to college.”

He also had the opportunity to watch his son, Danny, excel in men’s soccer at BW.

Ruple remembers the early days of being a SID.

“I started with the word processer as a student and then intern in The College of Wooster News Services office,” he said. “The very old Smith-Carona typewriter at BW did not have a number one key, so I trained myself to use the same l key as a replacement.”

Ruple started a new career after retiring. He’s an inside sales representative with Electric Merchant Systems.

(EMS) is a leading provider of payment processing and merchant services.

The company works with the Cleveland professional teams.

But whatever job Ruple has held over the years, he credits to his parents, Bob and Virginia, and the people of Ashtabula County.

“They taught us the right way,” Ruple said. “We had grew up on a farm with 3.5 acres and we worked hard. Ashtabula is a very special place.”

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FRISCO, Texas – Longtime McNeese broadcast member Ron Hayes has been selected as the recipient of the Southland Conference’s 2023 Louis Bonnette Sports Media Award.

Ron Hayes has been a member of the McNeese broadcast team since 1977, serving as a radio analyst for all football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball games. 

Throughout his time, he hosted a 30-minute TV coaches show for football and men’s basketball, airing on local television and regionally on HSE at the time.

He provided color analyst for football TV broadcasts on the local Fox affiliate from 1991-95 and stepped out of the booth from 2015-19 to serve as the school’s sideline reporter for football.

Hayes, a McNeese graduate, will be entering his 46^th season as part of the Cowboys and Cowgirls broadcasting team. He handled color commentating for all home ESPN+ broadcasts for football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball last season.

During his involvement with McNeese, he’s served as President of the Cowboy Club, which raises money for all athletic programs. From 1991-94 he was the Director of Institutional Enhancement and was responsible for sports marketing and broadcasting rights. He’s also been a Calcasieu Parish School Board member and is currently a Calcasieu Parish Police Juror.

Hayes is the 11th recipient of the award.  Previous winners include: Longtime Lake Charles, La., radio personality and McNeese public address announcer Bruce Merchant (2021); former television talent and Southland football sideline reporter Carley McCord (2020); former Abilene Christian Sports Information Director Lance Fleming (2019); former sports editor and columnist for the Log Cabin Democrat newspaper (Conway, Ark.) David MCollum (2018); former Lamar play-by-play voice and TV personality Dave Hofferth (2017); Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director and Sports Information Director Doug Ireland (2016); former Daily Sentinel (Nacogdoches, Texas) Sports Editor Kevin Gore (2015);  retired Sam Houston State Sports Information Director Paul Ridings (2014); and southeast Texas sports journalist and retired Lamar Sports Information Director Rush Wood (2013).
 
Louis Bonnette was the first honoree in 2012. Bonnette enjoyed a storied career as the first McNeese SID, holding the position for 46 years. As SID, he boasted a national record of 516 consecutive Cowboy football games worked. He was inducted into the Southland Conference Hall of Honor in 2007 and the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame in 2009.

Amy Shojai received the AVMA Steve Dale Excellence in Veterinary Media Award July 15 during AVMA Convention 2023 in Denver.

Shojai is a nationally known authority on pet care and behavior as well as spokesperson for the pet products industry. She is a certified animal behavior consultant and a Fear Free certified trainer who began her career as a veterinary technician.

Since then, Shojai has authored more than 35 prescriptive nonfiction books on cats and dogs and a pet-centric fiction series. She has also published thousands of articles and columns in which she has addressed various topics on pets, including training, behavior, and the human-animal bond.

Shojai is the affiliate pet editor for ReadersDigest.com and a consulting writer for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. She also consults with several other companies in the pet product industry, including Merck Animal Health, Tidy Cats, Purina, and Pets Best. Not to mention, she pens the pet blog “Bling, Bitches, & Blood.”

She is a co-founder of the Cat Writers’ Association Inc. and a member of the Dog Writers Association of America.

Shojai established the Ask Amy YouTube channel and has appeared as a pet expert on Animal Planet’s “Dogs 101” and “Cats 101” series.

Last year, the AVMA established the award to honor the achievements of an individual who has contributed to the positive visibility of the veterinary profession by raising public awareness of the important and diverse roles that veterinarians play in every facet of the health and welfare of animals, people, and the environment.

Dr. Jim Humphries, an adjunct professor of media and communications at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, said “You could not find a more experienced person who creates and delivers outstanding content that is easily read, heard, and seen by pet lovers all over the country. I believe she truly embodies ‘Excellence in Veterinary Media’ more than anyone I know.”