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 awards in multiple categories, with assistant news director and morning anchor Karyn Czar winning Best Radio reporter as well as garnering top honors for her coverage of ongoing flood relief efforts in Eastern Kentucky and the latest legislative blow-by-blows in the General Assembly. The “Cocaine Bear” phenomenon also won the station’s Samantha Lederman accolades in the Long Light News Feature category.
“2022 was a challenging year for all of us here in the news department,” said WUKY News Director Alan Lytle. “Through natural disasters, personal health issues, and staffing shortages, we soldiered on to deliver timely news and information to our listeners at a level of excellence they have come to expect and demand.”
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 2023 KBA awards:
- Radio Reporter: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM
- Short Serious News Feature: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM, "Woodsongs Delivers Donated Instruments to Storm-affected Kentuckians."
- Political Coverage: Karyn Czar, WUKY-FM, "General Assembly 2022.”
- Long Light News Feature: Samantha Lederman, WUKY-FM, "Kentucky Folk Anti-hero Cocaine Bear's Exploits to get Hollywood Treatment."