Radio Free Hillsdale program nominated for national award

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Radio Free Hillsdale program nominated for national award
WRFH broadcast named finalist for national media award

 

“Patmos, WI,” a radio drama written and produced by Shadrach Strehle ‘19, has been nominated for Best Special Broadcast through the Collegiate Broadcasting Inc. It was also chosen as one of four finalists nationally. The piece was the only broadcast submitted by Hillsdale to receive CBI finalist status this year.

Strehle was program director of WRFH for two years and currently works as a reporter for the online publication Great Lakes News. Strehle produced his nominated piece as the final project for his advanced radio class. Thanks to its high production quality, the broadcast eventually aired on WRFH and thus qualified for submission to CBI. The production is a pilot for a supernatural thriller audio drama set in the fictional town of Patmos, WI. It was inspired by Strehle’s love of H.P. Lovecraft and the television show Twin Peaks. 

“It was a labor of love and I had a great time doing it,” Strehle said. “Audio production is something that I am very passionate about and getting to be awarded on a national stage is a dream come true.”

While the class only required the project be three to five minutes long, Strehle’s final product was over 10 minutes and utilizes an original script. According to Strehle, the entire production process took place over only three days.

Scott Bertram, the general manager of WRFH, submitted Strehle’s work for the CBI awards. 

“It was a very intensive production process with sound effects and voice actors,” Bertram said. “Taking the time to put all of that together to the high quality that it was is very impressive. I thought it had an excellent shot to be nominated as a finalist.”

Thus far, WRFH has not received a first place award from CBI, though last year it took home a fourth and third place recognition. The winner will be announced at the 2019 National Student Electronic Media Convention in St. Louis at the end of October.

“We just submit the best stuff that we have to offer,” Bertram said. “I certainly think that Shad produced quality content that deserved finalist recognition, and hopefully first place.”

John Miller, director of the Dow Journalism program, said he believes that the nomination reflects well on the radio station. 

“This is a great national recognition of Strehle’s abilities,” Miller said. “They have dozens of categories with these awards, and it’s nice that our little station, which is still kind of new, got recognized in that area.”

Both Miller and Bertram emphasized Strehle’s contributions to the radio station as well as his talent for audio media.

“Shad did a lot of work to leave the station in a better place than he found it,” Bertram said.