Mississippi AP Broadcasters announce 2012 TV, radio winners at annual awards in Jackson

JACKSON, Miss., April 21, 2012 — WAPT-TV in Jackson and WTVA-TV in Tupelo received the 2011 Best Newscasts awards Saturday night at the 27th annual Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters' awards ceremony attended by more than 130 TV and radio broadcasters.

WMSI/WJDX of Jackson was the recipient of the Best Newscast in the state's radio division.

The awards, based on judging by AP member broadcast outlets in Virginia, were presented at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. Click HERE for a complete list of winners.

David Kenney, a reporter for WLBT-TV in Jackson, won the Howard Lett Newsperson of the Year award in television, named for the longtime Jackson broadcaster.

WLBT also won top honors in the large market categories in Best Sportscast, Public Affairs, Investigative reporting and Best Feature Story. WTVA won first-place awards in Best Sportscast and Best News Photography and Best Feature Photography.

WDBD-TV in Jackson won the first-place award for Best Weather for Dave Roberts in the large market category, while WTOK-TV in Meridian won the Best Weathercast award for Stephen Bowers among medium and small stations.

The MAPB also inducted two people into its broadcast Hall of Fame — A.J. Giardina, the longtime sportscaster at WLOX-TV, and Clarence Turner, the chief news photographer for WAPT-TV who died in 1999.

In the radio division, Mississippi Public Broadcasting earned first place in Best Public Affairs Reporting, Best Feature Story, Best Spot News Story, Best General News Story and Best Documentary.

Television stations were divided into two categories: stations in Jackson and Biloxi compete in Division I, while Division II includes stations in Columbus, Tupelo, Meridian, Hattiesburg, Greenville and Greenwood. Radio stations were judged in a single division.

In the college radio category, Jackson State University was honored for Best Newscast, Best Sportscast, Best News Story and Best Feature Story.

In the college television category, the University of Mississippi won top awards for Best Feature Story and Newscast. Mississippi State University won first place in Weathercast and Sportscast, while the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg won top awards for Best News Story and Best Website.

For the second year, the MAPB presented a Pioneer awards to a broadcaster who broke the color barrier in newsrooms across Mississippi. The honoree was former WLBT reporter and anchor Corrice Collins.

The keynote speaker was Ronnie Agnew, executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting and former executive editor of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson.

Nancy Dupont, a professor at the University of Mississippi, was named the incoming president of MAPB, succeeding Craig Ford, assistant news director and anchor at WTVA.

Louisiana-Mississippi APME names winners in its annual newspaper competition

NEW ORLEANS, April 7, 2012 — The Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors announced the winners of its annual writing, photo and digital contests for news stories, editorials, photos, graphics and headlines published during 2011 in Louisiana and Mississippi AP member newspapers.

The contest was judged by AP member newspaper editors in Alabama. Click HERE for a complete list of winners.

 

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