Drake students accepted five first-place awards, including Best Radio Newscast, during the Iowa Broadcast News Association convention in Johnston Saturday.
Drake Broadcast News junior and DBS President Erin Hassanzadeh received a $500 scholarship funded by friends and family of Eliot Keller, co-founder of pioneer KRNA-FM, Iowa City, and co-owner/general manager of KZIA/KGYM, Cedar Rapids. Keller died in 2009 from ALS complications.
Out-of-state judges named five of Drake’s six radio entries “First Place”.
- Mary Kate Wachtel, In-Depth, “HPV Testing”
- Katherine Fritcke, Political Coverage, “Campaign Exhaustion”
- Katherine Fritcke, General Reporting, “Secretary General Visits Drake”
- Erin Hassanzadeh, Public Affairs, “The Governor’s Education Proposal”
- Erin Hassanzadeh, Best Newscast
Samples of each winning entry were played during IBNA’s evening awards program. All radio submissions aired on 94-1 The Dog during 2012.
2012 Broadcast News graduate Melanie Fielder won 3rd Place for her TV sports feature about the Drake-area street naming for Paul Morrison.
Numerous other Drake Electronic Media graduates who work at Iowa television and radio stations were recognized as IBNA contest winners in the large- and small-market divisions.