Should local TV stations promote winning awards? Depends. If the awards are from an independent industry organization like the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists, then absolutely.
WESH, Hearst’s NBC affiliate in Orlando, Fla., was the recipient of three prestigious awards from the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists for 2022 presented in April.
WESH won the Overall Station of the Year award, the Community Service Station of the Year award (large market) and won in the documentary category for locally produced program.
Here’s how WESH promoted the awards:
Should local TV stations promote winning awards?
Depends. If the awards are from an independent industry organization like the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists, absolutely. These come from a jury of your peers who have singled out your submission in a certain category as the best in the state.
If I’m a news viewer in the Orlando area without a favorite news choice or perhaps one with a favorite that is not WESH, I might be inclined to want to watch the station that broadcasters in the state have chosen as the station of the year.
“Our station is dedicated to the communities we serve by providing quality news and information,” says John Soapes, WESH president-general manager. I am very proud of our team and their commitment to excellent reporting.”
Here are the winning entries:
WESH, Overall Station of the Year
This honor recognizes the Florida TV station with the most outstanding news product, community outreach and journalistic impact.
WESH, Community Service Station of the Year
WESH won for its coverage of and call to action on issues that included a Mental Health Awareness Day; its annual Share Your Christmas campaign to raise food, funds and awareness for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida; and its Hurricane Ian Telethon with the United Way, which raised more than $1.425 million for Central Floridians impacted by the storm.
WESH, Best Documentary
Chronicle: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
The program highlights Dr. Bethune’s impact as an educator, and civil and voting rights leader, and her historic selection as the first Black person to represent a state in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. The program, four years in the making, follows every aspect of Bethune’s selection for the honor, the statue’s creation and installation in Washington.
New Jobs Posted To TVNewsCheck
CLICK HERE to see new jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center including openings for a general manager, director of engineering, managing editor/director of Now, manager of business operations and a multimedia journalist.
Congratulations to WESH. A great station. Well deserved!