WORT programmers took home five awards in the Wisconsin Broadcaster’s Association 2020 Awards for Excellence. WORT competed in the Large Market Radio category, competing against radio stations with significantly larger budgets and staff. We are so proud of our reporters and programmers, and their dedication to serving our community.
Read on to hear the stories that won, and the people who made them possible. You can find a complete list of WBA award winners here.
Large Market Radio News and Talk: Best Spot News, 1st place
WORT Local Evening News Producer Jonah Chester took home gold for his story on a convenience store’s removal of postal services in the Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara (SASY) neighborhood.
The Stop-N-Go, located on Winnebago Street, had been providing postal services to the neighborhood for about 25 years. Residents were also concerned about the removal of laundry services next door.
Large Market Radio News and Talk: Best Promotional Announcement, 1st place
Bad Sister Heidi, co-host of Psychoacoustics, also took home the gold in “Best Promotional Announcement” for her year-end giving spot. Catch Psychoacoustics every Thursday night from 8-11pm.
Large Market Radio News and Talk: Best Continuing Coverage, 2nd Place
Local Evening News Producer Jonah Chester and reporter/producer Jade Iseri-Ramos won second place for their ongoing coverage of Madison’s new Police Civilian Oversight Board. The city’s 13-member board, set up this summer and formally created in September, is the culmination of half a decade of planning across two mayoral administrations.
Large Market Radio News and Talk: Best Feature, 3rd Place
WORT feature contributor Gianofer Fields took home the bronze for an episode in her Radio Chipstone series. This episode highlights local musician, master brewer, and all around dandy dude Don Vasa as he made peace with giving up his two remaining vintage Hammond organs. The organs are electric and one lives on his front porch – listen to hear Vasa plug it in for one last tune in the middle of a downpour.
Fields is an art historian and material culture contributor, and veteran of WBEZ: Chicago Public Media. She curates the Radio Chipstone series on WORT and WUWM in Milwaukee. She is the producer-in-residence at the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology’s Center for Design and Material Culture. Subscribe to her podcast, Refrangible.
Large Market Radio News and Talk: Best Use of Audio in Radio News, 3rd Place
WORT’s Jonah Chester also took home the bronze for his use of audio. Jonah traveled to the Goodman Pool in Madison on its first day of reopening, to document how people got their swim on in a pandemic.