Baker University’s radio and television stations, KNBU-FM and KNBU-TV, won seven awards from the annual student broadcast awards from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.
Baker was competing against universities such as the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, as the competition was not separated by size of institution. Baker was also the only private university to be honored with awards, and it was the first time Baker has received this many awards.
“It’s reassuring that we can compete against the big boys, and maybe not beat them all the time, but definitely compete with them,” Joe Watson, adviser to KNBU-FM and KNBU-TV, said. “Particularly when you look at KU, which has an awesome student radio station, and K-State, which swept many categories on the TV side. The fact that we walked away with seven awards really surpassed my expectations.”
On the radio side of the competition, junior Michael Wissmann won Best Disc Jockey Personality for his Christian rock show, “Disciple X.”
The show includes a top-10 countdown, Christian news, Bible verse of the week and a band of the week.
“I use what we talk about in my Bible studies and incorporate it into my show,” Wissmann said. “I let people who are listening think about it throughout the week and think about what God is doing in their lives every day.”
Senior Calvin Pearce earned a second place award in that category for his show, “Coast 2 Coast Radio.”
Senior Cate Richards’s “The Catacombs” and senior Genevieve Dés Marteau’s “Exposure” received honorable mention awards.
The staff of KNBU-FM also received second place for Best Station Promotional Activity with “Baldwin City Breakdown,” an event it coordinated with Hickory Creek Bar-&-Que last spring.
KNBU-TV’s freshman Ashley Payne won the title for Best Hard News Report with her piece on the Maple Leaf Festival.
“I didn’t expect for my piece to win, since it was entered in hard news,” Payne said. “I had another piece entered in features. I thought my Maple Leaf story was more of a feature story, so I was really shocked when Professor Watson told me I won second place and I was the only person on the TV staff to win an award.”
The KNBU-TV staff also won second place in the Best Taped Newscast category for “Orangeline.”
Watson said these awards are a result of many changes in the broadcasting department at Baker.
“The administration and the department have really focused the last several years on rebuilding the broadcasting program,” Watson said. “Last year, we also entered the KAB awards and we didn’t win anything. In fact, we got some pretty rough comments from judges, and it was a real wake-up call for me. I really made some significant changes to how we put together radio and TV on the campus. So, to me, it’s confirmation that we’re doing things right. We’re on the right path.”
