ALABAMA NEWS

Winners in the 2009 Alabama AP broadcast contest
March 20, 2010 23:14 EDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Winners have been announced in the Alabama Associated Press broadcast contest for the past year.

Most outstanding news operation awards went to radio station WBHM in Birmingham and three television stations based on market size: Fox 6 WBRC in Birmingham, WHNT News 19 in Huntsville and WTVY News 4 in Dothan.

Winners of the AP News Cooperation awards were WERC in Birmingham for radio and, in television, ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, WHNT in Huntsville and WSFA in Montgomery.

The contest entries were judged by AP member radio and TV stations in Kentucky.

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Here is the complete list of winners:

RADIO

1. Most Outstanding News Operation: WBHM

2. Best Regularly Scheduled Newscast: WZZK, Don Dailey

3. Extraordinary Coverage of a Scheduled Event: WBHM, Tanya Ott & Andrew Yeager, "Larry Langford Trial"

4. Best Coverage of a Spot News Story: WERC, Neal Vickers

5. Best General Sports: WBHM, Andrew Yeager & Tanya Ott, "Tide Flu" and "Greening the Green"

6. Best Public Affairs/Documentary: WERC, "Strokes"

7. Best Investigative Reporting: Alabama Public Radio, Brett Tannehill, "The Case of Bridget Lee"

8. Best Hard-News Feature Story: WBHM, Tanya Ott

9. Best Soft-News Feature Story: WBHM, Andrew Yeager, "Silly Bands"

10. Best Reporter: WBHM, Andrew Yeager

11. Best Anchor: WZZK, Don Dailey

12. Best Commentator/Editorialist: WBHM, Mary Sutton, "Gay Marriage"

13. Best Sports Reporter: WBHM, Andrew Yeager

14. Best Sports Anchor: WERC, Tom Morgan

15. Best Specialized Reporter: Alabama Public Radio, Alisa Beckwith-Ayilliath, "Health Coverage"

16. Best Use of Tape: WBHM, Tanya Ott, "Grocery Auction"

TELEVISION

1. Most Outstanding News Operation:

TV A: Fox 6 WBRC

TV AA: WHNT News 19

TV AAA: WTVY News 4

2. Best Regularly Scheduled Newscast

TV A: CBS 42, 5 pm News

TV AA: WHNT-TV, Tiffany Golden, Preston Benson, Denise Vickers, David Williams

TV AAA: WVUA-TV , Lynn Brooks, Terri Brewer, Wes Wyatt, Gary Harris, Jerome Davis, Jennifer Hamner, Jonathan Newman, Clare Stewart

3. Best Documentary

TV A: CBS 42, Cynthia Gould, Larry Ragan, Scott McDowell, John Johnson, Bill Payer, Bill Ballard, "Poison In The Air"

TV AA: WAFF 48, Jeff Castle, Kim Essex, Daniel Farmer, Kim Hester, Daniel Hopkin, Liz Hurley, Ben Isenhower, Amanda Jarrett, Blake Mann, Remeisha Shade, Mark Thornhill, Brad Travis, Todd Wade, "20 Years Later: The Twister That Changed It All"

TV AAA: WTVY, Denise Bradberry, "Surviving The Storm"

4. Best Series

TV A: ABC 33/40, Yenu Wodajo, Bruce Nix, and Bill Castle, "Jobless"

TV AA: WHNT-TV, Carson Clark and David Wood, "Murder in the Snow"

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Terri Brewer and Jerome Davis, "Justice for Bridget"

5. Best Investigative Reporting

TV A: Fox 6 WBRC, Ronda Robinson, "Davita Dialysis"

TV AA: WHNT-TV, Wendy Halloran, Shane Hays, Denise Vickers, Joe Glotzbach, Jacob Greene, Breach of Trust"

TV AAA: WTVY-News 4, Skylar Zwick and Jason Wright, "Uninformed Security"

6. Best Spot News Story

TV A: ABC 33/40, Ainsley Bruister, Jon Pinnick, Melissa Riopka, Chris Reid, Bill Castle, Jerry Wade, Pam Huff, Tracy Haynes, Wyatt Caruthers, Teresa Tolson, Kim Roy, Angie Ephrom, "Officer Shot"

TV AA: WSFA 12 News, "May Montgomery Floods"

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Alex Joseph, "Cows on Interstate"

7. Best Feature Story

TV A: WKRG, Alan Sealls, "Hurricane Fastball"

TV AA: WHNT-TV, David Wood and Dan Satterfield, "Dan in Space"

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Terri Brewer abd Jerome Davis, "Behind the Badge: Self Defense"

8. Best Sports Story

TV A: WALA Fox 10, Cary Chow and Kevin Sullivan, "Taylor Haugen's Legacy"

TV AA: WAFF, Scott Thiesen and Blake Mann, "Running Wild"

TV AAA: WTVY-News 4, Denise Bradberry and Chris Harris, "The Last Football Game at EHS"

9. Best Sports Feature

TV A: ABC 33/40, Jeff Speegle and Todd Dewey, "The Game Goes On"

TV AA: WAKA-TV, Dee Jackson, Stu McCann, and Stephen Carter, "The Game That Changed Auburn"

TV AAA: WTVY News 4, Brad Sherwood, "Ultimate Frisbee"

10. Best Sports Program

TV A: Fox 6 WBRC, Rick Karle, Mike Dubberly, Brian Pope, Rob Davis, Fox 6 Photography Team, "Sideline 2009"

TV AA: WAFF-TV, Scott Thiesen, Carl Prather, Eric Sollman, WAFF Photography Staff, WAFF Production Staff, "Friday Night Fever"

TV AAA: WVUA TV , Gary Harris, Rodney Orr, John Huddleston, Todd Hoyer,Jonathan Newman, Jennifer Hamner, Scott Spence,Ron Hamner, Keith Dobbins, Lynn Brooks, "Tider Insider TV Recruiting Special"

11. Extraordinary Coverage of a Planned Event

T VA: Fox 6 WBRC, Scott Richards, Janet Hall, Jonathan Hardison, Ashley Nix, Anthony Moore, Jamie Johnston, Perry Dawson, Neal Posey, Lloyd Alford, "Larry Langford Guilty"

TV AA: WHNT-TV, Denise Vickers, David Williams, Jerry Hayes, Allison Duff, Tiffany Golden, Shane Hays, David Wood, Carson Clark, Andrew Wilkins, "Tornado 89: Then and Now"

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Lynn Brooks, Terry Saban, Keith Dobbins, Amy Eifler, Jennifer Hamner, Jonathan Newman, Scott Spence, Roy Clem, Clare Stewart, Terri Brewer, John Huddleston, "UA Homecoming Parade"

12. Victor Irving Best Staff Photography

TV A: WALA Fox 10, Kevin Sullivan, Rob Lehocky, Franz Barraza

TV AA: WHNT-TV, Gregg Stone, Shane Hays, David Wood, Andrew Wilkins

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Jerome Davis, Parrish Alleman, Todd Hoyer, John Huddleston, Alex Joseph

13. Best Web Journalism

TV A: CBS 42, Bill Payer and Chris Mitchell

TV AA: WHNT-TV, Claire Aiello

TV AAA: WTVY News 4, Toygar Ayla, News 4 Staff

14. Best Reporter

TV A: WPMI, Andrea Ramey

TV AA: WSFA 12 News, Cody Holyoke

TV AAA: WVUA-TV , Tyler Morton

15. Stan Tarilton Best Photographer

TV A: WALA Fox 10, Kevin Sullivan

TV AA: WHNT-TV, David Wood

TV AAA: WTVY News 4, Erica Proffer

16. Best News Anchor

TV A: WPMI, Greg Peterson

TV AA: WAKA-TV, Stefanie Hicks

TV AAA: WTVY News 4, Skylar Zwick

17. Best Weather Anchor

TV A: ABC 33/40, James Spann

TV AA: WAKA-TV , Chris Bailey

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Wes Wyatt

18. Best Sports Anchor

TV A: Fox 6, Rick Karle

TV AA: WAKA-TV, Dee Jackson

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Gary Harris

19. Best Specialized Reporter

TV A: Fox 6, Ronda Robinson

TV AA: WHNT-TV, Wendy Halloran

TV AAA: WVUA-TV, Terri Brewer

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