KRWG Public Media was recently honored by the New Mexico Broadcasters Association with 8 awards, including “Station of the Year” for KRWG-FM.
KRWG-FM Morning Edition host KC Counts won 3 NMBA awards this year, including the “Best complete newscast” award. Counts, who also serves as KRWG-FM’s Operations Manager has won 8 NMBA awards in the last two years, she says that this honor reflects a strong team effort.
“KRWG’s commitment to important stories in our region is evident in every newscast we deliver. I am honored and humbled to be recognized individually, but this is truly a recognition of efforts by our entire staff and a reflection of the important role public media plays in the lives of Southern New Mexicans and West Texans,” said Counts.
Former KRWG Public Media multimedia journalist Madison Staten won two NMBA awards for radio news coverage, including best “feature news” for her reporting on how Las Cruces firefighters were getting the COVID-19 vaccine to vulnerable residents. Staten, who now works for PBS NewsHour’s western bureau also won best “continuing coverage” for her reporting on water management during a drought.
Winning best “DJ personality” was Emily Guerra host of Fiesta on KRWG-FM. For over two decades, Guerra has hosted one of the nation’s only bilingual music programs. Every weeknight, she introduces listeners to an eclectic mix of Latin rhythms from different countries. Guerra says the way she introduces the music reflects the bilingual community KRWG Public Media serves.
“As the host of Fiesta for over 22 years, it is quite an honor to be recognized with an award for Fiesta as a DJ Personality. For the most part New Mexico is a bilingual community, that was a major focus on my presentation of the music for Fiesta,” said Guerra.
Bringing home, the radio honors for “best specialty show” was KC Counts, Edmundo Resendez, and Mark Johnson who produced the annual call-in program “Red or Green Confidential,” which provides an opportunity for listeners to ask chile experts questions and share their favorite recipes and memories.
KRWG Director of Development Edmundo Resendez, who co-hosted the program with KC Counts, led the effort to establish the program nearly 7 years ago.
“The Red or Green Confidential was born out of a curiosity about the passion New Mexicans have with chile. As a transplant, I am truly amazed of the pride people in our community have with this beautiful fruit,” said Resendez.
Another call-in program that was honored by the New Mexico Broadcasters Association was KRWG Public Media’s Voice of the Public, hosted by KC Counts and produced by Mark Johnson. The award-winning episode of the live call-in program focused on how NMSU’s athletics played through the pandemic.
Mark Johnson, engineer and a producer of the program prepares the FM studios for all special programs. Johnson also streams call-in programs live on the KRWG Public Media’s Facebook page, answers listener calls during the programs, communicates with anchors, and works on post-production of call in programs for a digital audience.
“Many components go into producing a one-hour live show from establishing connectivity, microphone and air checks, live video on social media, routing callers to the guest or host and recording for playbacks all done by one. On behalf of the engineering team, FM team, and all of KRWG Public Media it is truly an honor to accept these awards," said Johnson.
In the student categories, the NMBA honored Rosemary Montañez with best “Original Production” for her News 22 story that showcased the talent of a local diving dog. Montañez, now an NMSU graduate, is employed by KVIA-TV in El Paso, as a weekend evening news anchor.
Adrian Velarde, University Broadcasting General Manager with KRWG Public Media was very happy to see the work of KRWG Public Media honored by the New Mexico Broadcasters Association.
“We have a top-notch team that works extremely hard to bring the best in Public Media to our region. It’s exciting to see their efforts recognized,” said Velarde.
The NMBA Excellence in Broadcasting Awards will be given out Friday, August 5th at the annual convention at the Albuquerque Marriott Uptown. More information on the awards can be found at www.nmba.org.