Harper Radio honored by BEA, IBS media awards

Harper Radio's Victoria Drzewiecka (from left), Meliha Calisir, Charlie Ayers, Matt Byrne, Ricardo Garcia and Gerard Garay celebrate WHCM's wins at the Intercollegiate Broadcast System Media Awards, March 1-2 in New York City.

Harper Radio continues to garner national attention, with recent wins at the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts Awards and the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Media Awards. Harper College’s WHCM radio station and the college’s Audio/Video Arts Technology program were honored for non-narrative audio and video entries at the BEA festival, and best promo and press release at the IBS conference.

BEA Festival of Media Arts Award winners include:

• Student Ricardo “Richy” Garcia – first place, Non-Narrative Audio for “NoirVember” (also won Best of Festival in the Two-Year Colleges Competition)
• Student and WHCM General Manager Matt Byrne – second place, Non-Narrative Audio for “The Night Shift Promo”
• Student Cheryl Winkelmann – second place, Non-Narrative Video for “Short Film Insanity”

IBS Media Award winners include:

• Student Erica Berger – Best Commercial/Promo for her Pinksqueeze Promo
• Students Yari Lopez, Garcia and Byrne for Best Press Release for their Chicago Reader Poll press release

In addition to its recent wins, Harper Radio fielded five other finalists at the IBS awards, including Best Community College Radio Station, Most Creative/Innovative Show, Best Community Volunteer Program/Personality, Best Logo and Best Faculty Advisor, Radio.

“Just being a finalist puts us in the top 5% in the country, so winning is extremely special,” said Brian L. Shelton, associate professor in Mass Communication. “As a faculty advisor, I’m honored to work with such a diverse group of students who use Harper Radio as their creative outlet.”

Harper’s WHCM was once again a Best Overall Radio Station finalist in the Chicago Reader’s annual Best of Chicago online poll, competing against Chicago stations such as WXRT and WBEZ. Harper Radio broadcasts at 88.3 FM in Chicago’s northwest suburbs and streams at harperradio.com.