Zeleznik tapped for Leo C. Lee Award
Maryanne Zeleznik, news director of Cincinnati’s WVXU, received the annual Leo C. Lee Award from the Public Radio News Directors Inc. during its annual conference in Louisville last week.
PRNDI also bestowed 93 awards for public radio work produced in 2009.
Among Division A stations, with five or more full-time news staffers, WAMU received three awards, Chicago’s WBEZ, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Pasadena’s KPCC won two each.
In Division B, with three or four full-timers, Nashville Public Radio, Connecticut’s WSHU and Cincinnati’s WVXU took home two apiece.
Among smaller stations, KCLU (Thousand Oaks, Cal.) and KLCC (Eugene, Ore.) won four awards each.
Zeleznik, a founding member of PRNDI, who reported and managed the newsroom during 20 years at WNKU before moving across the Ohio River to WVXU two years ago, received the Lee award, which recognizes lasting commitment to public radio journalism. The award is named after Leo C. Lee, the late founder of Western Public Radio, a public radio training program based in San Francisco.
Zeleznik and her staff won many earlier awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and PRNDI.
The PRNDI Awards:
Division A
(organizations with five or more full-time news staffers)
Breaking News
Second Place: KOPB – Oregon Public Broadcasting for “Attorney General Rleases Portland Mayor Investigation”
First Place: WAMU, Washington, for “Metro Crash”
Spot News
Second Place: Vermont Public Radio for “Olympian Andrea Mead Lawrence Succumbs to Cancer”
First Place: KUNC, Greeley, Colo., for “Colorado Groups Rally for Immigration Reform”
Continuing Coverage
Second Place: Michigan Radio, Ann Arbor, for “Cody Chronicles”
First Place: WBUR,. Boston, for “Death and Funeral of Ted Kennedy”
Writing
Second Place: WAMU for “J Street, Traffic Circles, and the Swamp the Never Was”
First Place: Michigan Radio for “The Rapidian”
Call-In Program
Second Place: WNPR (Connecticut Public Radio) for “The ABC’s of Kids TV”
First Place: WCPN, Cleveland, for “The Sound of Ideas: Listening to Imperial Avenue”
News/Public Affairs Program
Second Place: WBUR for “Radio Boston: Gang Violence”
First Place: WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) for “Eight Forty-Eight “Robeson Special””
Newscast
Second Place: WFPL, Louisville, for “8:00 a.m. News – December 18, 2009”
First Place: Michigan Radio for “Newscast: December 20th, 2009”
Commentary
Second Place: Vermont Public Radio for “Cosmic Ambiguity”
First Place: Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland, for “A Day to Remember What we Should Never Forget”
Documentary
Second Place: KOPB – Oregon Public Broadcasting for “Depression Echoes”
First Place: Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, for “Divorced Kid”
Multi-Media Presentation
Second Place: WBUR for “Project Droput”
First Place: WNYC Radio, New York, for “Your Uncommon Economic Indicators”
Interview
Second Place: KERA, Dallas, for “Economy: Preventing Foreclosures”
First Place: KPCC, Pasadena, Calif., for “Werner Herzog AirTalk with Larry Mantle”
Enterprise/Investigative
Second Place: KQED, San Francisco, for “Playing with Lead”
First Place: KPCC for “Pumps Under Pressure”
Series
Second Place: Colorado Public Radio for “Extreme Mustang Makeover”
First Place: WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) for “Fifty-Fifty: The Odds of Graduating”
Soft Feature
Second Place: Colorado Public Radio for “Urban Chickens”
First Place
Vermont Public Radio for “Homeless Family Puts Down Roots”
News Feature
Second Place: WAMU for “A Stingray by Any Other Name Would Taste the Same”
First Place: Oregon Public Broadcasting for “There Goes the Neighborhood”
Use of Sound
Second Place: WBUR for “Piano Purchase”
First Place
WAMU for “J Street, Traffic Circles, and the Swamp the Never Was”
Division B
(organizations with three or four full-time news staffers)
Breaking News
Second Place: WBGO, Newark, for “Corruption Raids”
First Place: WBFO, Buffalo, for “The Crash of Flight 3407”
Spot News
Second Place: WCBU, Peoria, Ill., for “al-Marri Sentenced”
First Place: NashvillePublic Radio for “Ft.Campbell Leads Army in Suicides”
Continuing Coverage
Second Place: North Country Public Radio, Canton, N.Y., for “A Year of Hard Choices”
First Place: WSHU, Fairfield, Conn., for “Latino Victimization”
Writing
Second Place: Nashville Public Radio for “Veggie Project”
First Place: Wyoming Public Radio, Laramie, for “The Darwin Ranch”
Call-In Program
Second Place: WGCU, Fort Myers, Fla., for “GulfCoast Live: Healthcare Mailbag”
First Place: WBHM – FM, Birmingham, Ala., for “On the Line: Gay/Straight in Alabama”
News/Public Affairs Program
Second Place: Wyoming Public Radio for “Open Spaces 4/10/09”
First Place: WUSF for “Florida Matters: Helping Homeless Vets”
Newscast
Second Place: Nashville Public Radio for “6:06 a.m. – February 2”
First Place: WBGO for “Doug Doyle Update”
Documentary
Second Place: WKYU – FM, Bowling Green, Ky., for “A New Look at the New Deal”
First Place: WVXU, Cincinnati, for “Who Concert: 30 Years Later”
Interview
First Place: WVXU for “Cal Levy”
Second Place: North Country Public Radio for “Scozzafava on the Heart and Soul of the GOP”
Enterprise/Investigative
First Place: North Country Public Radio for “Hackett’s: Underwater”
Series
Second Place: WYPR, Baltimore, for “Growing Up Baltimore”
First Place: KALW, San Francisco, for “Fault Lines Project”
Soft Feature
Second Place: WEKU, Richmond, Ky., for “What’s Scrooge’s Problem?”
First Place: Nashville Public Radio for “Vietnam Vets Flood Ft.Campbell Welcome”
News Feature
Second Place: WBHM – FM for “Tornado Sirens”
First Place: WSHU for “Homeless Count”
Use of Sound
Second Place: Prairie Public Broadcasting, Fargo, N.D., for “Peace Officer Memorial”
First Place: Boise State Radio, Boise, Idaho, for “Canning Makes a Comeback”
Division C
(organizations with one or two full-time news staffers)
Breaking News
First Place: KCLU-AM/FM, Thousand Oaks, Calif., for “Jesusita Brushfire”
Spot News
Second Place: WUGA-FM, Athens, Ga., for “GeorgiaTheater Fire”
First Place: KCLU-AM/FM for “Fillmore Brushfire”
Writing
Second Place: KCCU, Lawton, Okla., for “Crysler’s Shutdown Hits Home”
First Place: KLCC for “Superhero Exhibit”
Call-In Program
Second Place: WCAI, Cape Cod, Mass., for “Afghanistan”
First Place: KLCC for “Field Burning”
News/Public Affairs Program
Second Place: KCLU-AM/FM for “Torture Hearings”
First Place: WFUV, New York, for “Cityscape – Human Trafficking”
Newscast
Second Place: WBAA, West Lafayette, Ind., for “8:04 a.m. Newscast”
First Place: KLCC for “Newscast: 1/28/09”
Commentary
Second Place: KLCC for “Sotomayor”
First Place: WFYI, Indianapolis, for “Serendipity”
Multi-Media Presentation
Second Place: KRCC, Colorado Springs, Colo., for “Following the Harvest”
First Place: KLCC, Eugene, Ore., for “Inquiry-Based Education”
Interview
Second Place: WBAA for “Economics of Dr. Suess”
First Place: KCLU-AM/FM for “Dr. Keith Black”
Enterprise/Investigative
First Place: KCLU-AM/FM for “Not In My Backyard”
Series
Second Place: WCAI for “Educating Everyone”
First Place: WYSO, Yellow Springs, Ohio, for “My House: Facing the Mortgage”
Soft Feature
Second Place: WTIP, Grand Marais, Minn., for “The Blowdown: A Ten Year Remembrance”
First Place: KGOU, Norman, Okla., for “Another Hot Oklahoma Night”
News Feature
Second Place: KRCC for “Confronting Suicide in El PasoCounty and Colorado Springs”
First Place: WYSO, Yellow Springs, Ohio, for “HIV – Alex’s Story”
Use of Sound
Second Place: WCAI for “Down and Dirty with Septic
Pump-out”
First Place: WPSU-FM for “Bucket Brigade”
Division D
(students)
Spot News
Second Place: KUWS-FM, Superior, Wis., for “Salazar Inspects Apostles”
First Place: KUWS – FM for “Sex Assault Awareness”
Newscast
Second Place: WFUV for “John Rogan”
First Place: WEKU, Richmond, Ky., for “Emily Boyer”
Soft Feature
Second Place: Alabama Public Radio, Tuscaloosa, for “Pigs Gone Wild”
First Place: KUWS-FM for “Copper Creek”
News Feature
Second Place: WFUV for “Kingsbridge Armory”
First Place: WGCU for “HALO Breast Test”