WUTM 90.3 FM, “The Hawk,” UTM’s student-run radio station, represented the uiversity well at the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Conference in New York City by winning the Abraham & Borst Award for Best Overall Radio Station in the Nation.
WUTM competed against schools in three other categories to win the award, including Best Streaming Only Radio Station, Best Community College Radio Station, and Best College/University Station (more than 10,000 enrollment).
In addition to winning the Best Overall Radio Station in the Nation, WUTM also took home the award for Best College/University Station (under 10,000 enrollment) and was named a Platinum Level Station, the highest peer-review level award given annually by the organization.
Josh Lemons, WUTM senior Sports and Remote Director, won the Best Celebrity/Artists Interview for his One on One featuring Jerry Reese, General Manager of the New York Giants in the On-Air category. In the News and Public Affairs category, Lemons also won the Best Public Affairs Series for Baseball/Softball Complex Opening.
“I felt confident that our students were creating and producing high-quality work, but being named the best college radio station in the nation is like winning a national championship in sports for us,” said Dr. Richard Robinson, assistant professor of Communications and faculty adviser for WUTM.
Several WUTM staff members were also national finalists at the conference. In the News and Public Affairs category, Benita Evans placed in Best Newscast for WUTM Newscast 3-25-11, Best Community News for Earthquake on the New Madrid, and Best Public Affairs Program for Weakley Word. Allison Jones placed in Best Campus News Coverage for New Women’s Center.
In the Sports category, Lemons placed in Best Sports Talk Program for One on One. In the On-Air category, Leah Kerassidis placed in Best Talk Program for Let’s Talk Greek, Brandon Doyle and Rachel Stephens placed in Most Creative Show for Valentine’s Day Show, and the UTM Radio Production Class placed in Best Radio Drama for Richard Diamond, Private Detective: The Gibson Case.
In the Multimedia category, the station placed in Best Website, and Joel Flowers placed in Best Podcast for Wake Up, Shake Up.
“We’re elated that the station has received these national honors, and I’m so proud of and for our students,” said Robinson on the accomplishments.
These aren’t the only awards that WUTM has won recently. The station was awarded the Best of the South for the third year in a row at the 2012 Southeast Journalism Conference in February. That was also the fifth year that WUTM placed in the top three in the annual “Best of the South” awards competition.
At the convention, the station also placed second in Audio News, and Jones placed third in Radio Reporting.
“We’ve said for years that our faculty and our student media are among the best. I’m especially proud of the hard work and commitment to excellence that WUTM Adviser Dr. Richard Robinson and his students continue to display week in and week out. This award makes it clear that others across the nation concur. I could not be more pleased, but I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Robert Nanney, chair of the Department of Communications.
The IBS was founded in 1940 by George Abraham, Ph.D., and David W. Borst. IBS is the fastest growing broadcasting group in the world, and has offered over 70 years of continuous service for more than 1,000 high school, community college and university radio stations.
For more information about WUTM and the station’s services, visit www.utm.edu/organizations/wutm.
