WKSU Wins 10 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards

WKSU was honored by the Press Club of Cleveland with 10 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards at a recent ceremony at the House of Blues in downtown Cleveland. 

The station won six first-place prizes and the best-in-show award for Best Newscast, which WKSU staff has received in five of the past six years. Award entries were judged by a panel of journalism professionals from press clubs and news publications across the country.

WKSU winners of 2019 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards from the Press Club of Cleveland are:

  • Best in Show – Radio Newscast, Major Market, Host, Producers Jeff St.Clair (All Things Considered) and Amanda Rabinowitz (Morning Edition). Both hosts work on tight deadlines, adding regional breaking and long-form reports to NPR’s national news magazines.
  • First Place – On-going Coverage, Reporter, Producer M.L. Schultze for “Amer Adi Deportation.” A series of reports following the eventually successful attempts to deport Youngstown resident to his native Jordan, despite community intervention.
  •  First Place – Public Service, News Staff for “Navigating the Path to Mental Health.” The six-part series took a deep dive into access and availability issues surrounding mental health care in Northeast Ohio.
  • First Place – Use of Sound, Reporter, Producer Mark Arehart for “A New Kind of Wooden Coaster Twists and Turns at Cedar Point.” This sound-rich report combines technical information about Cedar Point’s latest addition with on-scene sound of Arehart riding Steel Vengeance for the first time.
  • First Place – News Writing, Reporter, Producer Jeff St.Clair for “Blockland Backers Dream of a Cleveland Tech Mecca.” Part of St.Clair’s on-going Exploradio series, the report looked at blockchain, what it can do and the challenges of making Cleveland a tech Mecca.
  • First Place – Radio News Website, WKSU Staff for “WKSU.org.” Award for work on WKSU’s station website, incorporating local, statewide and national content. 
  • First Place – Use of Social Media, WKSU Staff for “WKSU Social Media.” Coordinated efforts to share WKSU content, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and special projects on YouTube and Facebook Live. 
  • Second Place – Radio News, Schultze for “EBay Finds Akron’s Jugglers, Beekeepers and Artists.”
  • Second Place – Human Interest, Rabinowitz for “Shuffle: Project D.R.E.W. Helps Veterans Heal Through Song.”
  • Third Place – In-depth Coverage, St.Clair for “Exploradio: Industry 4.0 in Cleveland.”

The Ohio Excellence in Journalism contest is a statewide competition for the best in print, broadcast and digital journalism.  More than 800 entries were submitted for consideration.

POSTED: Friday, August 2, 2019 10:09 AM
Updated: Friday, December 9, 2022 08:15 AM