UMKC students from the department of communication studies won top honors in the 2014 College Media Awards Competition, sponsored annually by the Missouri Broadcast Educators Association (MBEA). In multiple categories of radio production, first-place awards went to Ross Stinemetz (Dramatic), Cody Tapp and Ryan Witkowski (Play-by-Play), Zach Hinton (Station Promotion), while an honorable mention was awarded to Will Trumper (Dramatic).

“This is the fourth year in a row that one of my students has won first place for Radio Drama,” said UMKC assistant teaching professor Angela Elam, “and this year we picked up both first and second, so I think people around the state are starting to take notice.” Elam, who taught all of these students in her radio production class, Communication Studies 363, is also the host and producer of UMKC’s nationally distributed public radio show, New Letters on the Air.

At this year’s MBEA competition, Ross Stinemetz won for his drama, Gamblin’ Man, a continuation of the Sundown Sector series that brought him and Cody Tapp first place in 2013.  Stinemetz also gained a first place in the Documentary/ Public Affairs category with his radio series on writers for Number One magazine. Both aired in spring of 2013 on K-ROO.org, UMKC’s student Internet radio station.

Second honors went to Will Trumper, the current program director of K-ROO, for his radio drama about a pop music purgatory.

Cody Tapp and Ryan Witkowski–who served respectively as K-ROO’s first Sports Director and Station Manager when it began in late 2012–earned their second MBEA first-place award for Play-by-Play, this time for their coverage of the winter 2013 UMKC vs. Iowa State basketball game.

Zach Hinton won first place for the audio promotion of The Ace Klub, his
music show that airs on K-ROO.org on Monday afternoons from 2:00-3:00.

Short segments from all of the award-winning pieces will be played at the
Communication Studies Student Showcase on Wednesday, May 14th, 6:30 p.m. at
the Tivoli Theater in Westport, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO. This event is free and
open to the public.

For a complete list of awards, visit the Missouri Broadcast Educators Association website.