Local/Regional News

Lexington’s NPR news station, WUKY-FM, shows up strong in national and statewide contests

WUKY | By WUKY Staff

Published July 17, 2023 at 6:51 PM EDT

The longtime Lexington radio news leader has received nine Kentucky Broadcasting Association nominations, along with two sought-after honors from the Radio Television Digital News and Public Media Journalists associations this year.

As the commonwealth worked to bounce back from the pandemic amid another round of punishing extreme weather in Eastern Kentucky, WUKY's news team continued to deliver consistent award-winning coverage of topics ranging from flood relief to highly-charged legislative debates.

WUKY captured KBA nominations in diverse categories, with assistant news director and morning anchor Karyn Czar garnering five nods for her coverage of everyday heroes guiding a region through historic flooding and the latest legislative blow-by-blows in the General Assembly. Reporter Josh James was recognized for his breaking news coverage of a gun scare at a Lexington high school, along with reporting on Kentucky’s fight over abortion access and a citywide vigil for Ukraine. The “Cocaine Bear” phenomenon also won the station’s Samantha Lederman notice in the Long Light News Feature category.

WUKY will even see two of its own go head to head – with both Karyn Czar and Josh James battling it out for Best Radio Reporter.

In other contests, WUKY cemented its status as a national player with Karyn Czar’s "Reporter's Notebook: Everyday Heroes of Eastern Kentucky” bringing home an Edward R. Murrow regional award for feature writing in 2023. The story also won a second place nod in the national Public Media Journalists Association awards.

Finally, for the first time ever, WUKY’s midday report with news director Alan Lytle, assistant news director Karyn Czar, and reporter Josh James was judged the best short newscast (Division C) by the PMJA.

Full KBA award nominations:

Radio Short Public Affairs: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM, "Signs of Hope"
Short Serious News Feature: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM, "Woodsongs Delivers Donated Instruments to Storm-affected Kentuckians"; Josh James, WUKY-FM.
Political Coverage: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM, "General Assembly 2022”
Breaking News: Josh James, WUKY-FM
Long Light News Feature: Samantha Lederman, WUKY-FM, "Kentucky Folk Anti-hero Cocaine Bear's Exploits to get Hollywood Treatment"
Long Serious News Feature: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM, "Reporter's Notebook: Everyday Heroes of Eastern Kentucky"
Radio Reporter: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM; Josh James, WUKY-FM

The winners will be announced at a special KBA awards event September 24^th at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.