Yellowstone Public Radio receives awards for excellence in broadcast journalism

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Yellowstone Public Radio, part of the public service mission at Montana State University Billings, was honored earlier in October for excellence in broadcast journalism at the 10th annual presentation of the Joe Durso Awards in Helena. 

Yellowstone Public Radio dominated the competition with four first-place awards and one honorable mention.

Winner of multiple Durso Awards over the years, YPR News Director Jackie Yamanaka won three first place awards in:

• Best Radio Newswriting for her story on “People’s Law Center Grants”
• Best Radio Enterprise for “Charity Dentistry”
• Best Radio Spot News Edited for “Hillary Clinton in Montana”

YPR Morning Edition Anchor Kay Erickson was recognized for her work for the third consecutive year with an honorable mention in Best Radio Spot News Edited for “Mail Plane Crash.”

And YPR New Media Manager and Assistant General Manager Ken Siebert won Best Radio Web Page also for the third consecutive year for www.ypradio.org.

The awards are presented in honor of the late Joe Durso, Jr., who was a longtime broadcast journalism professor at the University of Montana.  The award ceremony took place at the 25th annual meeting of the Montana Associated Press Broadcasters Association.

Yellowstone Public Radio provides in-depth news, public affairs and cultural programming to a general adult audience in Montana and northern Wyoming. It consists of four radio stations and 28 translators, including KEMC in Billings, KBMC in Bozeman, KYPR in Miles City and KPRQ in Sheridan, Wyo. Sheridan, all of which are licensed to MSU Billings.