WBFO-FM 88.7 Wins Six Associated Press Awards and Two Public Radio News Directors Awards

BUFFALO, NY.Y. -- WBFO-FM 88.7, the University at Buffalo's National Public Radio affiliate, won six awards at the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association's annual awards banquet last month in Saratoga Springs.

The station captured three first-place and three special mentions honoring the work of the WBFO news team.

News director Eileen Buckley received first-place honors for the prestigious Art Athens award for General Excellence in Individual Reporting in 2010. Buckley is a three-time recipient of this award, also winning in 2002 and 2008 for her work at WBFO. In announcing the award this year, the judges said Buckley's "stories were well reported and produced. Excellent work."

Arts and Cultural producer/reporter Joyce Kryszak won first place for Best Feature for "Family War Sacrifice," a report on a family who lost a loved one to the war in Iraq In announcing the award, the judges described Kryszak's work as "a dramatic, heartrending story. Well produced and presented." Kryszak has won many Associated Press, Edward R. Murrow and New York Broadcasters Association awards throughout her more than 12 years at WBFO.

Buckley and Kryszak were also honored with a first-place award for Best Continuing Coverage of the "Deadly City Grill Shootings" in downtown Buffalo in August 2010. The judges described their news reporting as "thorough, well-presented...interesting storytelling of an important, significant and unfolding event."

Other Associated Press awards earned by WBFO include:

-- Best Spot News Coverage: Special mention to Buckley for reporting on City Grill shootings

-- Best Interview: Special mention to Buckley for her interview with gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino about his run-in with New York Post reporter Fred Dicker: "Paladino Bickers with Dicker"

-- Best News Special/Documentary: Special mention to. Buckley for coverage of the Flight 3407 crash and tragedy "One Year Later"

WBFO's news coverage also earned acclaim at the Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI) annual awards banquet held last month in Arlington, Va. PRNDI hosts the only national contest recognizing outstanding public radio news reporting at local stations.

The team of Buckley, Weekend Edition anchor Chris Jamele and news anchor Mark Scott won first place for "Breaking News" coverage of the City Grill shootings. WBFO News also received a second-place award for Buckley's spot news coverage of the shootings.

The judges praised WBFO's coverage of the City Grill crimes as "a model for breaking news coverage: the reporter and anchor seamlessly coordinated coverage from the scene to convey the latest news."

PRNDI is a non-profit organization dedicated to the professional development of public radio journalists.