WRDL named to multiple IBS Finalist Awards

WRDL 88.9 FM was recently honored with two 2019 Finalist Awards from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System. This marks the third year in a row that WRDL has garnered multiple IBS Finalist Awards with a national First Place Award in 2017. WRDL General Manager Derek Wood noted that these awards signify the "best of the best" in collegiate radio and audio production.

WRDL was selected for Best Play-by-Play Football for its coverage of Crestview High School football. It was one of six stations feted in this category. Also, the station received the Best Use of Social Media (Other) for the WRDL 88.9 Soundcloud. It was in the top five stations in the country for this category.

IBS Finalist Awards and the National First Place Awards will be handed out at the national convention on March 1 to 3, 2019 in New York City.

The Collegian and AU Live net ONMA awards

The Collegian and AU Live were named as winners in the 2019 Ohio Collegiate Newspaper and Best Website Competition. The awards are sponsored by the Ohio News Media Association. The ONMA Convention will be held in Columbus on February 7. Awards will be given at that event.

Award categories and student winners are as follows:
Arts and Entertainment     Caitlyn Moore, Justin Davis and Kellie Pleshinger

Design       Collegian Staff

Photojournalism     Bree Gannon

Best Multi-Media Package    Ingrid Schmidt and Christine Jenkinson

Best Website     Collegian/AU Live Staff

December 2018 JDM Graduates

December 15th marked the end of an era for the three JDM students who walked across the stage at the Fall 2018 Commencement. Digital Media Journalism and Digital Media Production double-major Noah Cloonan will embark on a career of sports broadcasting. Currently, he serves as a play-by-play announcer for AU basketball games on Sports Time Ohio. DMP major Waylon O'Donnell recently was hired by WQKT radio in Wooster. Yang (Andy) Shao, a DMP major, will enroll next year in a film or digital media production graduate program.

JDM salutes the latest in its long line of successful graduates!

Bill Conners Speaks with JDM Students

On Thursday, Bill Conners from iHeartMedia visited with JDM students. He spoke about his 30+ years in radio production and offered advice to those interested in the media industry. Bill provided interesting insight on being creative when writing promos and commercial spots. He also let the class listen to some examples of his work for WGAR and WMJI in Cleveland.

Bill Conners graduated from the Ohio School of Broadcasting Master Program in 1982. He was hired at 1220 WGAR in 1981 as a part-time engineer. In 1984, Bill was promoted to producer for Paul Tapie morning show on 1220 WGAR. In 1986, he became Production Director for WGAR AM/FM. Since 2006, Bill has been the Creative Services Director for WMJI, in addition to WGAR. He's responsible for writing copy to promote station events, writing and voicing commercials and promotions via social media and new technologies.

Thank you, Mr. Conners, for taking the time to meet with our students!

Tyler Lance hired by WKQW radio

May 2018 Digital Media Journalism graduate Tyler Lance is no stranger to radio. Tyler was a four year veteran of WRDL 88.9 FM radio at Ashland University. In fact, he served as the WRDL Program Director for three years and he was a national finalist (Intercollegiate Broadcasting System) for his work as a sports broadcaster.

Tyler was recently hired by Clarion County Broadcasting Corporation to work at its Oil City, PA radio station WKQW.  At WKQW, Tyler will be serving as an on-air announcer, news producer and high school sports play-by-play broadcaster. According to Tyler, his new boss was very impressed with the radio experience that he received with the department of Journalism and Digital Media and WRDL.

JDM upgrading audio and video editing lab facility

The department of Journalism and Digital Media has undergone many changes since its creation in 2011. The number of individual DMJ and DMP majors has doubled in the last five years. Radio broadcasts and television telecasts hit new all-time high levels this past year.  National, regional and state media awards were collectively garnered by AUTV 20, AU Live, The Collegian and WRDL radio for the very first time.

Even the venerable facilities improved, as the JDM Convergence Newsroom was built four years ago, AUTV 20 added all new HD control room equipment and studio cameras in 2017 and WRDL received a new transmitter in 2018. However, move improvement to the facilities needed to be rendered to meet the growing demands of the program.

With the help of the College of Arts and Sciences and the IT department, JDM will spend tens of thousands of dollars to renovate the aging, smallish Mac editing room. The idea for the renovation came from a meeting between John Skrada, JDM Director of Broadcasting and Operations, and Dr. Dave McCoy, Chair and Associate Professor of Journalism and Digital Media. Skrada and McCoy developed a plan to knock down a block wall that separated 139 CFA (Mac Lab) and 140 CFA (equipment storage room), gut both rooms, install 17 new computer work stations and develop a modern teaching presentation area in the expanded space.

The new JDM Audio/Video Lab will be fully operational for Fall 2018 classes. Please take a look at a few photos that show the deconstruction of the two rooms.

Tom Nesbitt embarks on radio career

Recent (May 2018) Journalism and Digital Media graduate Tom Nesbitt will continue his stellar radio career in Ohio. Tom, a Digital Media Production major and a stalwart at WRDL, begins this month at both WOHF and WFRO in Fremont, Ohio. These stations are owned by BAS Broadcasting and they feature music from the 1960s through the 2000s and local high school sports coverage.

Tom will serve as an audio board operator, a producer for the weather programs and a sideline reporter for the broadcasting of high school football games. His work at WRDL prepared him well for this position. JDM wishes Tom good luck on this exciting phase of his career.