Associated Press Awards 2009

The news staff of WKU Public Radio has earned more First Place AP awards than any other radio station in the state. At the annual awards presentation in Lexington, members of the news staff were honored for excellence in numerous competition categories (pictured are Lisa Autry, Dan Modlin, Kevin Willis, and Joe Corcoran).

Class One Radio First Place Awards:

Best Continuing Coverage

Lisa Autry and News Director Dan Modlin won top honors in Class One Radio for their in-depth

coverage of the problems facing the auto industry in the region. 

Best Series or Documentary

Lisa Autry received a First Place awardcategory for Vietnam Pilot Reunion. 

Best Public Affairs Reporting

Dan Modlin took another first place in large market radio for his report Managing Market Fears. 

Best Political Coverage

Awarded to Lisa Autry for her reporting on the U-S Senate race in Kentucky. 

WKU Public Radio also earned five first place awards for Class Two Radio  (The Class One and Class Two categories in the competition are based on the population in the broadcaster’s city of license. WKU Public Radio must ask for permission to compete against stations from the largest radio markets, which are designated Class One).

Public Affairs Reporting

Dan Modlin and Lisa Autry tied for first place with Modlin’s special report Impact of Brain Injury and Autry’s report Farm Safety.

Best Radio Anchor

Morning Edition host Joe Corcoran earned top honors and was the only radio anchor to receive an award in this category.

Best Enterprise/Investigative Reporting

First Place went to Lisa Autry for her report The Electric Car Plant.

Best Series/Documentary

First Place to Dan Modlin for his 30 minute story The Proposed Federal Bail-Out Package. 

In addition to the first place awards, the station won six other awards. Kevin Willis earned an Honorable Mention for Political Coverage in Class One Radio and a second place in Political Coverage in Class Two Radio for election night coverage.

Joe Corcoran won a second place for Teaching More than Arabic and Lisa Autry won an Honorable Mention for Baby Joe Doe in the Hard News Feature category. Lisa also won Honorable Mentions for Best Radio Reporter and Enterprise reporting for Oakwood Reforms. 

News Director Modlin won a second place in Continuing Coverage for a report on Fighting Cancer in Kentucky, and the staff won an Honorable Mention for Best Newscast.

News Director Modlin says the variety of issues covered in the  award-winning programs is a good reflection of the daily coverage provided by the NPR affiliate.  “We work very hard to address key issues that impact the lives of people in our region. We believe it is the emphasis on issues that enables us to perform at this level in the AP competition.”

The award presentations were announced on April 14^th.