Tuesday, April 15, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WMUL-FM) — Students, a faculty member and a community volunteer from Marshall University’s public radio station, WMUL-FM, received three Platinum Awards, six Gold Awards, and four Honorable Mention Awards in the International AVA Digital Awards 2025 Competition. The winners were released recently on the organization’s website. This year marks WMUL-FM’s thirteenth time competing in this particular contest.
Dr. Chuck G. Bailey, professor of radio–television production and management in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University and faculty manager of WMUL-FM, said, “All thirteen of WMUL-FM’s entries won awards in the International AVA Digital Awards. This is a wonderful accomplishment to be recognized with three platinum awards for producing two exceptional racing programs and a campus commentary podcast.
In addition, WMUL-FM’s Newscenter 88 Team was acknowledged with a gold award for its solid thirty-minute newscast, the FM 88 Sports Staff with gold awards for a discerning sports talk program and a blog about the local minor league baseball team. Other gold awards were for a convincing station promo, making an exciting musical feature video program featuring an Appalachian indie rock solo artist, producing an album analysis blog, and a community volunteer producing an enjoyable specialty music program. Plus, other WMUL-FM student broadcasters received four honorable mention awards for their notable efforts. I am proud and grateful for the honor these AVA Platinum, Gold, and Honorable Mention Awards bestow on WMUL-FM, the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and Marshall University. These AVA Awards are a tribute to the continual quality and commitment of the radio station’s student and community volunteer staff to its news/sports coverage by both our Newscenter 88 Team and our FM 88 Sports Staff, the promotional abilities of our production staff, the entertainment value of our musical offerings by the disc jockeys, and the online presence that our broadcast students exhibited in direct competition with professional practitioners.”
The AVA Digital Awards contest is an international competition that recognizes outstanding creative professionals involved in the concept, direction, design, and production of media that is part of the evolution of digital communication. Work ranges from audio and video productions – to websites that present interactive components such as animation, blogs and podcasts –
to interactive social media sites – to other forms of user-generated communication. Entries are judged by members of the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). There were approximately 2,500 entries from throughout the United States, Canada and 30 other countries in the International AVA Digital Awards 2025 Competition.
The AVA’s prestigious Platinum Award is presented to those entries judged to be among the most outstanding submissions in the competition. Platinum Winners are recognized for their excellence in terms of quality, creativity and resourcefulness. About 16 percent of the entries won this award with a score between 90-100. Platinum and Gold Winners are listed on the International AVA Awards website at https://enter.amcpros.com/ava/winners/
The Gold Award is presented to those entries judged to exceed the high standards of the industry. Approximately 21 percent of the entries received this award with a score between 80-89. Honorable Mention certificates are granted to those entries that meet the expectations of the judges. About eight percent of the entries received this award with scores between 70-79.
Platinum Award Winning Entries
BEST AUDIO PODCAST
“Yik the Yak Program 4 – SPECIAL EDITION – Election Advice,” written and produced by Makaylah Wheeler, a graduate student from Huntington and Dr. Clinton Brown, a Communications Studies professor, broadcast and made available online Monday, November 4, 2024.
AUDIO PODCAST | ENTERTAINMENT SINGLE EPISODE
“SpeedZone: Episode Thirty-Four,” an hour-long, live, weekly motorsports program, with host Ben Cower, a senior from Purcellville, Virginia, and panelists Sean Kelly, a senior from State College, Pennsylvania, and Dale Garrett, a recent graduate from Huntington. This thirty-fourth episode of “SpeedZone”, featuring Ona Speedway Track Promoter TJ Layne, was broadcast Thursday, May 2, 2024.
AUDIO PODCAST | ENTERTAINMENT SINGLE EPISODE
“SpeedZone: Episode Fifty-One,” an hour-long, live, weekly motorsports program, with host Ben Cower, a senior from Purcellville, Virginia, and panelists Sean Kelly, a senior from State College, Pennsylvania, and Dale Garrett, a recent graduate from Huntington. This fifty-first episode of “SpeedZone”, featuring Motor Racing Network’s Jason Toy, was broadcast Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
Gold Award Winning Entries
BEST AUDIO NEWSCAST
The “5:00 p.m. Edition of Newscenter 88” broadcast Thursday, September 12, 2024. The students who participated in this newscast were:
Emma Gallus, a junior from North Dinwiddie, Virginia; (Producer)
Emma Johnson, a senior from Peach Creek; (Anchor)
Waylon Smith, a senior from Ashland, Kentucky: (Anchor)
Makaylah Wheeler, a grad student from Huntington; (Weather)
Nate Courtney, a junior from Fairfax, Virginia. (Sports)
AUDIO/RADIO PROGRAM
“Album Sides” is a two-hour music program with host Alex Kendall, a community volunteer, featuring different eras of music. This edition focused on “Irish Rock” and was broadcast Monday, March 11, 2024.
PUBLICATIONS/BLOG ENTERTAINMENT SINGLE POST
“Album Analysis – Something Greater – alexi” a blog written by Ethan Peltier, a senior from Proctorville, Ohio, was posted Monday, July 15, 2024. Also, he generated the blog post’s artwork.
https://www.marshall.edu/wmul/files/Untitled-design-7.mp4?_=1
VIDEO SPORTS PROGRAM
“Sportsview” featuring Softball athletes Jules King and Kasia Parks being interviewed by host Ben Anderson, a junior from Ironton, Ohio, and Baseball athletes Elijah Vogelsong and Eddie Leon being interviewed by host Sean Kelly, a senior from State College, Pennsylvania.
This edition of “Sportsview” was broadcast Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
AUDIO/RADIO/WEB PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT
“Car Bash 2024 Promo” is an in-house promotional announcement broadcast in WMUL-FM’s Promotion Announcement rotation Tuesday, October 1, 2024, until Friday, October 4, 2024. The promo was written and produced by David Adkins, a master’s graduate from Huntington and voiced by Makaylah Wheeler, a graduate student from Huntington.
PUBLICATIONS/BLOG SPORTS SINGLE POST
“Coal Cats Corner – Coal Cats Win Five of Last Six” a blog written by Johnathan Edwards, a recent graduate from Colloden, was posted Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
Honorable Mention Award-Winning Entries
CREATIVITY/WRITING NEWSLETTER
“WMUL-FM Newsletter for December” was written and published by Emma Gallus, a junior from North Dinwiddie, Virginia. The newsletter was posted online Monday, December 2, 2024.
VIDEO EDITING
“Marshall University Student Section” is an in-house entertainment video curated for Instagram to highlight the football game’s student section antics. Alex Cooksey, a junior from Huntington, shot and produced the video. The video was posted to the FM88 Sports Instagram page Monday, October 21, 2024.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBZfrBbJBme/?igsh=azgweGI1bGRlMnIz
VIDEO PROGRAM – INFORMATIONAL
“Weekend Recap” is a televised recap of the week on NewsCenter 88. The program is a 15-minute recap of the top stories and video packages from the staff’s story highlights from the prior week. It aired live on Saturday, October 19, 2024, and is available for playback on the WMUL YouTube channel. The WMUL-FM students involved with the production of the program were:
Producer- Emma Gallus, a junior from North Dinwiddie, Virginia.
Anchor- Makaylah Wheeler, a graduate student from Huntington.
Anchor- Emma Johnson, a senior from Peach Creek, West Virginia.
Weather- Emma Gallus, a junior from North Dinwiddie, Virginia.
Sports- John Boggess, a recent graduate from St. Albans
AUDIO PRODUCTION – PROMOTION
“Yik the Yak Promo,” is an in-house promotional announcement broadcast in WMUL-FM’s Promotion Announcement rotation Tuesday, October 1, 2024, until Friday, December 6, 2024. The promo was written by Makaylah Wheeler, a graduate student from Huntington, produced by Nathaniel Harrah, a junior from Hurricane, and voiced by Makaylah Wheeler and Dr. Clinton Brown, a Communications Studies professor.