WAMC, Northeast Public Radio Wins Big at 18th Annual Communicator Awards

ALBANY, NY (05/03/2012)(readMedia)-- WAMC Northeast Public Radio is proud to announce that several WAMC staffers and programs have won three prestigious Gold Awards of Excellence and four Silver Awards of Distinction for the Communicator Awards. The awards received are as follows:

The nationally syndicated daily module, The Academic Minute, won a Gold Award of Excellence for the segment entitled "Gaga for Rilke" in the Programs - Writing/Creative Concept category. And in the program category, The Academic Minute received a Silver Award of Distinction for the segment "Passing in the South".

The producer of The Roundtable, Sarah LaDuke, received an Award of Excellence for her interview and production work with Jonathan Coulton in the category of Production/Use of Music. Also winning an Award of Excellence in Production/Use of Music was WAMC's Senior Producer Ian Pickus for "Rolling Stone's Jonathan Ringen".

In the News category, Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill won a Silver Award of Distinction for his piece "Veteran Health Services", in which he looks at how the demand for veterans health services is increasing and will continue to climb for decades to come. In the same category, Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas received an Award of Distinction for his story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel", which explores whether or not the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed.

Also winning an Award of Distinction was WAMC's national production The Book Show in the program category. Hosted by Joe Donahue and produced by Sarah LaDuke, the winning show featured guest Tom Perrotta.

"We are pleased that WAMC and its employees are being recognized for their hard work," says President and CEO Alan Chartock, "We have invested many of the dollars we've gotten from our public into our News Department, and those dollars are paying dividends."

All winners can be heard via podcast at www.wamc.org.

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program recognizing big ideas in marketing and communications. Founded nearly two decades ago, The Communicator Awards receives over 6,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. As we enter our 18th season, we're also introducing expanded online and mobile categories, making this year's awards bigger and better than ever.

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms. IAVA members include executives from organizations such as Airtype Studio, Big Spaceship, Conde Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, Fry Hammond Barr, Lockheed Martin, MTV Networks, Pitney Bowes, rabble+rouser, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Time, Inc, Victoria's Secret, Wired, and Yahoo!

Member-supported WAMC Northeast Public Radio broadcasts news, informational and cultural programming to listeners in portions of seven northeastern states. WAMC is an award winning producer of regionally based programming and an affiliate of National Public Radio, American Public Media, and Public Radio International. To become a member go to: http://www.wamc.org/support.html

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