Titan TV and 90.3 WRST-FM took home 26 awards at the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Student Awards for Excellence held Feb. 24 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
90.3 WRST-FM, UW Oshkosh’s campus radio station, claimed 16 awards at the ceremony while Titan TV, UWO’s campus television station, won 10 awards.
90.3 WRST-FM’s first-place awards were for best newscast for radio, best sports programming non-play-by-play for radio, best sports play-by-play for radio, best live special for radio, best episodic entertainment program for radio and best website.
Titan TV’s first-place awards at WBA were for: sports programming non-play-by-play for TV and best informational/educational/corporate spot for TV.
Wendell Ray, 90.3 WRST general manager, said he was really proud of his students’ work over the past year.
“You know, [the awards are] just reflective of what the students do and the hard work they put in, both in class and what they do with the station,” Ray said.
Titan TV General Manager Justine Stokes said she was happy so many students won awards from WBA.
“It’s hard work to work in college television and it’s a big deal to share your work and to have it be judged by professionals, and so to see them take home 10 awards is a big deal,” Stokes said. “More importantly, if you look at what we won, we won across the board. All different types of content, all different levels of productions in classes, and I’m almost more proud of that than anything else.”
Ray said he has to tip his hat to the students who win awards for work they do in class.
“Particularly those who are our RTF 120 (Introduction to Audio/Radio) students who had never done a news cast before, never done any kind of work on the air before and won awards,” Ray said. “I think that says a lot and hats off to our managers as well, who put in a lot of work and make sure the station sounds good and looks good on the internet. I think we just have a lot of good students who work really hard and are conscious of the product they put forward.”
Stokes said she was most impressed by the different types of productions her students put together last year.
“I think if you look at us as compared to maybe other schools in the state, I think we offer the most variety of experience for students,” Stokes said. “There’s news, there’s sports, there’s sitcoms winning [awards], there’s studio game shows, we even did a show on poker. What I’m most proud of is that I kind of let the students do the content they want to make and not worry about it fitting into anybody’s expectations.”
Ray said the number of awards is reflective of the radio/TV/film department’s approach to blending curriculum with facilities.
“You just don’t just kind of go in there and figure things out yourself,” Ray said. “There’s a whole curricular approach to teaching students how to use the equipment, how to create content, and I think it shows every year in how both Titan TV and WRST are able to garner awards.”
Stokes said the RTF department gives students what they need to thrive in and out of the classroom.
“You also have WRST [at WBA] so if you really think about the RTF program, it’s not just us, its WRST, and I just think it shows the kind of student this program attracts,” Stokes said. “These are students that are serious about their careers and are willing to do the dirty work because those shows are hard, they’re difficult, they’re not always getting compensated in any way for doing the work. I think it really recognizes the importance of the experience.”
More information on the WBA student awards can be found on their website at www.wi-broadcasters.org/college-corner/student-awards-for-excellence/.
