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Tag Archives | broadcasting

Breakup, mail delays, and Communicator Awards

Melting ice under "breakup boots," Nome, Alaska

Melting ice under “breakup boots,” Nome, Alaska. Photo by Laura Davis Collins.

All across Western Alaska, it’s the season known as “breakup”: the slow, on-again/off-again period of melting that signals the gradual approach of summer. Some days are bright and sunny, and others are cloudy and snowy. The sun melts ice on rooftops as the tundra gives up its blanket of white snow, little by little. Spring is here, mud and large puddles reign supreme in our streets, and birds of all kinds are returning to their summer homes.

There have been mail delays at the local post office, so we haven’t been able to thank our supporters as quickly as we would like. Nome is at the end of the mail trail, and it sometimes takes an extra two to three weeks or more to receive envelopes and packages from supporters in the Lower 48. Everything takes longer here at the edge of the Bering Sea.

Finally, we’ve just received word that the KNOM volunteers have been awarded four Communicator Awards for excellence in radio programming! They will soon be adding three silver statues, and one gold, to the KNOM trophy case.

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Welcoming the next generation of broadcasters

Janice HomekingkeoEducation has been an essential component of our mission since KNOM’s inception in 1971. Last month, we realized the goal of education in a special way: by welcoming a broadcasting student with special ties to the region we serve.

Janice Homekingkeo (pictured at left) hails from Koyuk (COY-uck), a Western Alaskan community nestled on Norton Bay. Janice is a lifelong KNOM listener with a keen interest in broadcasting; it’s her academic focus at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois, and it was the subject of her two-week internship at KNOM in January.

Closely shadowing our news director, Laureli Kinneen, Janice got a behind-the-scenes look at a working radio newsroom. She watched Laureli and KNOM’s other newsies broadcast live reports and prepare weather forecasts, and soon, she was ready to take to the microphone herself. Janice recorded daytime weather casts and, on her final day at our studios, even anchored a KNOM newscast.

Thank you for allowing us to share, in so many ways, the special potential of radio with our listeners. To hear Janice’s news broadcast, check out our Update News episode from Friday, January 25, 2013.

 

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Anticipating a prestigious award

Great news!

The National Association of Broadcasters has officially announced that KNOM will receive the 2013 NAB Crystal Heritage Award; it’s the broadcasting organization’s capstone award recognizing outstanding commitment to community service.

We congratulate and thank all who have helped KNOM garner such a prestigious honor. Our radio station is only the fourth ever to receive the Crystal Heritage Award, and the entire KNOM staff is all smiles. We are blessed with wonderful support that allows us to produce programming that receives such national recognition.

We thank everyone who helps to make this possible, and as always, we share this award with you.

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Congrats to the news crew!

Margaret and Eva hold Goldie Awards

It’s an exciting time for our mission: our news team is the recipient of two highly-coveted awards from the Alaska Broadcasters Association (ABA)!

The ABA Goldie Awards recognize excellence in radio and TV broadcasting across the state of Alaska, and in November, the organization honored KNOM news with awards in the categories “Service to Children” and “Service to Community.”

Both awards specifically recognize news shows produced by KNOM’s former volunteer public affairs director, Matthew Smith, who served our mission from 2010 through earlier this year. Winning the awards were Matthew’s news feature on the personal stories of Nome 8th graders and his radio spots on a mysterious disease that affected some seals in Alaskan waters this year. (The marine mammals have a special place in the subsistence lifestyle that is at the heart of our region’s traditional culture, making Matthew’s reporting not just timely but, also, vitally important.)

We share these latest awards with you: congratulations, and thanks so much for making possible the crucially-needed reporting that KNOM news does every day. Holding our latest Goldies, above, are our current news volunteers – Margaret DeMaioribus and Eva DeLappe – whose work, thanks to you, continues the standards of excellence our mission has maintained for more than 40 years. To hear one of Matt’s award-winning programs, head on over to our news page.

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Weather reports, and two more Goldie awards

2012 Goldies

Please pray with us for KNOM friends and family in areas struck by Hurricane Sandy. We pray for a rapid recovery for the devastated communities. May God watch over them as they rebuild.

As our temperatures approach zero, the blustery winds remind us how treacherous the weather can be — day or night. KNOM continues to broadcast timely winter weather warnings and watches every hour of the day to everyone in western Alaska. These critical reports save lives. Our thanks to all who make KNOM possible.

Wonderful news! The Alaska Broadcasters Association has bestowed upon KNOM two more Goldie Awards for broadcast excellence (pictured above). Both awards recognize work done by KNOM volunteer alumnus Matthew Smith, whose produced pieces for the KNOM news department won Goldies in the categories of “Service to Community” and “Service to Children.”

Both of these categories are highly valued in ABA’s annual awards. As always, we share these exciting honors with you and with everyone who makes our mission possible. To our donors, supporters, volunteers, staff, and community members: thank you, and congratulations!

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Meet Lucus

Lucus Keppel, KNOM’s new volunteer producer, comes to our mission with a breadth of experience in travel, academic study, broadcasting, ministry, and community service.

The Michigan native has lived in Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Illinois, and Jakarta, Indonesia, and he’s now happy to call Alaska home. His tenure at our mission is hardly his first experience in broadcasting or technology: from Central Michigan University, Lucus earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast and cinematic arts with a minor in theatre and interpretation (in 2005) and a master’s degree in electronic media management (2007). He also founded an audio theatre troupe and taught the practice of radio drama to students with little or no experience in the art form.

Most recent among Lucus’ academic achievements is his master’s in divinity from Louisville Seminary. His theological background is a boon to our community: Lucus is active in the Nome Ministerial Association.

At KNOM, Lucus is putting his diverse experience to wonderful use; he writes and produces our inspirational spots. Welcome, Lucus!

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October 1984: A new class of radio station

October 25, 1984

After nearly two years of lobbying, frequent intervention by Senator Ted Stevens, and five inches of paperwork, the FCC grants KNOM and fifteen other high-power Alaskan stations protection against interference that is beyond what is afforded large Lower 48 stations, by creating a new class of station, 1-N (“N” for north).

It is the result of two years of work undertaken by Tom Busch, then president of the Alaska Broadcasters Association, and Augie Hiebert, KNOM friend and Alaska broadcasting pioneer. It was initiated by a petition by Canada to establish thirty AM stations in the western regions of their country, interference from which would have wiped out nighttime radio listenership throughout most of rural Alaska. Senator Ted Stevens prevailed to preserve the coverage rights of KNOM AM and the other rural Alaska radio stations.

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August 2009: Transmitter trouble

August 23, 2009

The transmitter fails this morning, just as the automated remote control commands the increase to daytime power. From Anchorage, Tom Busch talks general manager Ric Schmidt into coaxing it to operate at very low power, about 2,000 watts. After flying to Nome, Tom discovers that a jumper cable 100 feet above ground has severed. Due to high reflected power, the station might be actually transmitting at only a handful of watts.

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41 candles on our birthday cake!

Bishop pushes the "on" button

Bishop Robert Whelan pushes the “on” button for KNOM’s very first program: July 14, 1971.

On July 14, 1971, a dedicated staff of volunteers helped to launch a new kind of radio station. KNOM signed on as a mission radio station: a unifying source of inspiration, education, news, and entertainment. Today, KNOM is the oldest Catholic radio station in the United States.

Over the years, we have heard so many stories about how KNOM makes a positive difference in listeners’ lives. Years ago, a local man dropped by the radio station and, in a soft, low voice, told us how KNOM had saved his life. So many listeners have changed their lives. Many times we can’t repeat the stories, so as to respect the person’s privacy. As each story is told, we are more encouraged to make KNOM a beacon of faith, hope, and charity.

We thank everyone who has helped KNOM put 41 candles on our cake. We’ve only just begun!

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