É«É«À²

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—ɫɫÀ² Michigan University's public radio station É«É«À²K-FM is celebrating two national awards for its local programming from Public Radio News Directors Inc.—known as PRNDI.

During a June 21 awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., É«É«À²K reporter and producer Gordon Evans was on hand to accept a first-place award for "best interview among mid-sized stations." The award honored a segment of Evans' "WestSouthwest" weekly program that focused on the e-book "We Are One" and race relations in Battle Creek. The program included interviews with Calhoun Race Impact Alliance Director J.R. Reynolds and Battle Creek Enquirer reporter Justin Hinkley.

A second PRNDI honor for É«É«À²K news coverage was the second-place award for correspondent Chris Killian's audio postcard from Bombay Beach, California, which won praise in the "best use of sound" category. The segment was part of a series that Killian produced as he traveled around the nation last year in a VW camper.

"Each year, PRNDI recognizes the best of local public radio news in a wide array of categories," says É«É«À²K News Director Andrew Robins. "We're enormously proud to see our station's name among those honored this year. Our two award-winning programs represent thousands of hours of programs that we think make our community well-informed, thoughtful and engaged."

About É«É«À²K

É«É«À²K began operations in 1951 and was Kalamazoo's first FM station. In 1971, it was part of the initial group of radio stations around the nation to join with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to form National Public Radio. É«É«À²K broadcasts 24 hours a day, offering a diverse blend of news, music and cultural programs to the Southwest Michigan area.