Archived News | Return to News Center

June 7, 2007

KEDM-FM news department wins 16 Associated Press awards

The news department of KEDM-FM, Northeast Louisiana’s public radio station housed at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, won 16 awards, including 10 first-place citations, in the annual Louisiana Associated Press Broadcasters Association contest for 2006, held June 2 at The Courtyard on the Ridge in Harahan.

News Director Sunny Meriwether won Story of the Year honors for her coverage of the first anniversary of and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. She also placed first in the Best Newscast category, and took second place for Reporter of the Year.

In addition, Meriwether won first place in General News for a story about the scandal involving Congressman Rodney Alexander’s Congressional page who received inappropriate emails from a now-disgraced former Florida congressman; she also took second place in that category for a story about the construction of the new Ouachita River port dock.

In the feature category, Meriwether placed first for a story about the visit of Mystical Arts of Tibet to the ULM campus, and third for coverage of the reopening of the Dixie Theatre in Ruston. She also won first place in Continuing Coverage for a series of stories on the sale of Glenwood Regional Medical Center, first for Best Sports Story for coverage of the selection of a new mascot for ULM, and first in Investigative Reporting for a release concerning a faculty survey at ULM.

In the Public Affairs category, Meriwether won first for a preview of the September 30th election, and second for a story on proposed school millage taxes. She took second for Best Use of Sound in a story about a Youth Work Camp, and third for a feature about displaced New Orleans musician Gary Brown. Her series about proposed constitutional amendments on last fall’s ballot also won first place in the In-Depth Series category.

KEDM’s Web site, www.kedm.org, won first-place honors for Brad Shelton, a KEDM program host who also maintains the station’s Web site.

The Associated Press awards are judged by peer journalists from other states. KEDM competes in Class B, which includes stations in all Louisiana markets except New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Shreveport.

KEDM-FM is a public radio station serving Northeast Louisiana and Southeast Arkansas. The station broadcasts a mixture of news, classical music, jazz, and local programming 24 hours a day at 90.3 FM. KEDM is affiliated with National Public Radio and American Public Media.

PLEASE NOTE: Some links and e-mail addresses in these archived news stories may no longer work, and some content may include events which are no longer relevent, or reference individuals and/or organizations no longer associated with ULM.