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June 16, 2006

KEDM news department takes home 19 Associated Press broadcasting awards

The KEDM-FM news department at the University of Louisiana at Monroe won 19 awards in the 2005 Louisiana Associated Press Broadcasters Association competition June 3 in Baton Rouge, including a Reporter of the Year award for KEDM News Director Sunny Meriwether.

KEDM-FM is the public radio station housed at 蜜桔直播. Its reporting team, including Sunny Meriwether, Scott Blair, Cynthia Perdue, and Kate Archer along with Maria Carter (a reporter from KCUR in Kansas City whom National Public Radio sent here to help with post hurricane coverage) took first place in the Story of the Year category with a series of reports on Hurricane Katrina.

The news department including Meriwether, Perdue, Blair, Archer and Carter, also took first place in the Continuing Coverage category for Hurricane Katrina related reporting. Archer won first place in Best Sports Story for a story called "Champion Material."

Dr. Bette Kauffman, KEDM鈥檚 interim general manager, said, "These awards are just the most recent evidence of a 15-year tradition of commitment to quality local, state and regional news.  I believe the success of our spring membership drive indicates that our local listeners will indeed invest in quality coverage of events such as Hurricane Katrina."

Meriwether and Perdue, along with Blair and Jillian Rodrigue of the 蜜桔直播 Atmospheric Sciences Center, won first place in the Breaking Weather category with reports on Hurricane Katrina. Meriwether also took three awards in the General News category: first place for a story about teacher pay, second for a story about accountability scores and third for a story about voting machines.

KEDM also swept the Feature category, winning first place for a story on a Poverty Point dig; second place for a story on the Waterfront Landing Restaurant in Columbia; and third place for a story on Pandemonia, an Oak Ridge plantation which holds community days to share folklife traditions.

The Best Sound category was also swept by KEDM with first place going to Meriwether's story on Pandemonia, second to Archer for a story called "A Persistent Tone" and third to Archer for a story on the jingle for the Ruston Peach Festival.

KEDM and Meriwether swept the Best Public Affairs category with first place for a story about the special session of the legislature, second for a story on Medicare drugs, and third for a story about the fire department tax.

The KEDM website also won first place in the competition.

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