KOMU/Channel 8 won four first-place awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association during the association’s annual June award ceremony in Branson.
Anchor Jim Riek received the first-place honor for the Best Documentary/ Public Affairs Reporting for his coverage of the second anniversary of the 2011 Joplin tornado.
“Three years ago, the Joplin tornado changed my outlook on life and professional career forever,” he said. “Any honor I receive is dedicated to the residents of Joplin who suffered so much.”
The tornado killed a total of 158 people and injured 1,150 others and left behind a total of $2.8 billion in damages.
Riek co-authored [“Joplin, Our Words, Our Stories, Their Hope,”](http://www.amazon.com/Joplin-Words-Stories-Their-ebook/dp/B00CXS40DU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369253989&sr=1-1&keywords=joplin%3A+our+words%2C+our+stories%2C+their+hope) which tells the story of the Joplin tornado. All proceeds from the book benefit “Rebuild Joplin”, a non-profit organization dedicated to the long-term recovery of the damaged town.
Riek also directed a 2011 documentary on the natural disaster, “32 Minutes in May,” which won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists in Washington D.C.
Meteorologist Rosie Newberry received the first place award for the Best Weathercast among small market stations.
The station beat out the 5 p.m. weathercast at KMIZ Channel 17. Newberry said her success was made possible with the support from her team at KOMU.
“I feel honored,” Newberry said. “I will have worked full-time at KOMU for two years in September and I recognize that not many people my age reach such an achievement.”
Newberry also said her passion for meteorology comes from three parts of the process.
“I enjoy doing weathercasts because … I love learning about science, I love communicating what I know and I love connecting with the community,” she said.
The station itself was honored for excellence in news coverage, including the Best Spot News Award for its coverage of Ryan Ferguson’s release from prison last year.
Ferguson was controversially convicted for the 2001 murder of Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt, and after serving ten years of his 40-year sentence, [Ferguson’s conviction was overturned in November, 2013](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/11/6/brady-violations-overturn-ryan-fergusons-convictio/).
“I was very happy to see the award come our way,” KOMU News Director Stacey Woelfel said. “The work that was recognized was the work of a lot of our students, all trying very hard to deliver on an important story. They not only learned a lot working on breaking news like this, but I think it ignited a passion for that kind of storytelling in many of them.”
The station was also awarded the Best Local Website Award.
