Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM received five finalist spots from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System for its 2017 college-level awards.
For its inaugural year on the air, the IBS recognized Hillsdale College’s radio station for five of its more than 20 submissions. Finalists were in the top 10 percent of entries. The national competition received four times the number of entries as it did in 2016, according to a press release.
“The competition is good competition,” WRFH General Manager Scot Bertram said. “I think that’s a great ratio in terms of people who ended up being finalists. For a first shot, it is pretty impressive.”
Hillsdale was a finalist for Best Talk and Comedy programs, Best Documentary, Best Sports Play-by-Play for Softball or Baseball, and Best Show Promotional Poster.
In March, four students and Bertram will travel to New York City for the IBS’s annual competition to accept the trophy awards for the finalist positions and learn if Hillsdale won in any of the categories.
The talk show “Off Topic” from juniors Dylan and Shadrach Strehle and Ross Hatley, the show’s hosts, and Ben Dietderich, the producer, was one of six finalists for Best Talk Program, including a show on DePaul University’s award-winning station. The variety show is meant to entertain and avoid politics — even uttering President Donald Trump’s name is off limits.
“It surprised me, because Best Talk Program has more of the heavier competition,” said Shadrach Strehle, the content manager for the station. “It’s a big deal for us and shows that Hillsdale isn’t to be counted out.”
He added that many Hillsdale students are introduced to the college through talk radio and those who have become active in the station have a greater affinity for it than anywhere else he has experienced.
Junior Jenna Suchyta was one of six finalists for Best Documentary. Suchyta’s “Opioid Epidemic” was a project branching from work she did as an intern at Radio America in Arlington, Virginia, over the summer. She focused on the effects of many Americans’ addiction to opioid drugs in Hillsdale County.
Suchyta spent about two months researching and interviewing players in the community on this issue, including Hillsdale College Director of Health Services Brock Lutz, Hillsdale Hospital nurse Andy Biegner, Hillsdale County Sheriff Tim Parker, and state Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake.
“I localized the story and found that it was not a big deal in Hillsdale as some other parts of the country,” Suchyta said. “It’s been a labor of love and hatred. I loved the project, and I’m proud of myself for doing it, but it took so much of my time.”
To the surprise of Bertram, sophomore Martin Petersen and junior Cole McNeely were recognized along with three other submissions for their coverage of the men’s baseball team against Wayne State University. Bertram said there has not been much focus on sports coverage for the radio station, though WRFH plans to roll out some more of it later this year.
“It was almost a one-off,” he said. “We went off to test the equipment, see how things were going to work at the baseball field. We taped it and said, well, we might as well give it a shot, and it ended up being a finalist.”
The IBS award winners will be announced on March 3.