WFHB FireHouse Broadcasting

Congratulations to the WFHB News Team, which tonight brought home a record ELEVEN awards for excellence in broadcasting from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In each category there is a first, second, and third place, and an honorable mention. This year we earned 5 first-place awards, 3 second-place awards, 2 third-place awards, and 1 honorable mention. And the winners are:

BEST NEWSCAST
1st Place
Daily Local News 10/22/09
Joy Laughter, Scott Weddle, Chad Carrothers, January Jones, Mark Fishman, Kelly Wherley, William Morris, Andrew Anderson

BEST NEWSCAST
3rd Place
Daily Local News 8/27/09
Joy Laughter, Scott Weddle, Chad Carrothers, Drew Daudelin, Kelly Wherley, William Morris, Jarrod Linne

BEST RADIO WRITING
1st Place
“My Secret Abortion”
Shana Ritter, Chad Carrothers

BEST RADIO WRITING
2nd Place
“The True Meaning of Thanksgiving” (holiday edition of "EcoReport")
Nathan Harman, Chad Carrothers

BEST CONSUMER REPORTING
2nd Place
“We Buy Houses! Now! Cash! Fast!” (segment of “Bloomington Beware!”)
Rich Fish, Chad Carrothers

BEST CONSUMER REPORTING
3rd Place
“Rubbing Out RoboCalls” (segment of “Bloomington Beware!”)
Rich Fish, Chad Carrothers

BEST RADIO DOCUMENTARY OR SPECIAL
1st Place
“The Bloomington Storytelling Project” (as broadcast on "Standing Room Only")
Laura Grover, Chad Carrothers

BEST SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTING
1st Place
“The Food Stamp Challenge”
Chad Carrothers

BEST CRIMINAL JUSTICE REPORTING
1st Place
“Jail Lawsuit Settled, Problems Persist”
January Jones, Chad Carrothers

BEST COVERAGE OF CHILDREN’S ISSUES
2nd Place
“A King’s Legacy: Kids Talk About MLK”
Kai Grise, Thomas Smith, Chad Carrothers

BEST EDUCATION COVERAGE
Honorable Mention
“State Proposal To Change Teacher Certification”
David Murphy, Bill Daugherty

Kudos to all our winners, especially to the teams responsible for our near-sweep of the Best Newscast category. It should be noted that these awards are open to ALL Indiana radio stations, not just community or public radio, so we are competing with radio newsrooms that have exponentially more resources. We are the only community radio station that competes as far as I know, and tonight our peers in the Society of Professional Journalists sent us a clear message: YOU ROCK!