Third consecutive year for award.

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Date published: 4/21/2008

The WFLS-FM news department has been named the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters’ Outstanding News Operation picking up the Superior Award for 2008.

The award was one of several awards the station received at the VAPB’s annual awards luncheon held Saturday afternoon in Richmond.

The award for Outstanding News Operation was in recognition of the station news staff’s ability to cover major issues of the Fredericksburg area and five surrounding counties. The out of state panel of judges noted that WFLS covered a wide range of stories and described the news presentation as having a “large market sound.” This is the third consecutive year the station has received the award. It also won the award in 2000 and 2004. The WFLS news staff includes Niche Herman, Nancy Ball, Deirdre Blake, Bill Dubensky and news director, Frank Hammon.

WFLS was also given the Superior Award for Best Spot News Coverage of a fiery crash involving several tractor trailers on I-95 in Caroline County last June. Reporter Bill Dubensky was on the scene early that morning, providing live coverage until the flames were out and the traffic finally cleared.

The station also received the Superior Award for Continuing News coverage of “What’s Polluting Fairview Beach?” The series of stories throughout the year dealt with pollution problems at the King George County site and numerous tests performed by the state as it attempted to learn the source of pollution contaminating the water in the Potomac River. The coverage also received a Meritorious Award for the Douglas Southall Freeman Award for Public Service Through Radio Journalism.

WFLS News also was the recipient of the Superior Award for Best Feature “The Weiner Is…” Reporter Niche Herman’s story was about a hot dog eating contest held last year at the University of Mary Washington that used a montage of natural sound to capture the event.

The station, owned by The Free-Lance Star Companies, also received the Superior Award for Best Documentary or In-Depth Report for “Focus: Recovering from a Brain Injury.” The 30-minute program hosted by reporter Nancy Ball aired last March entailed a visit to the Westwood Clubhouse where people in the program talked of the frustration of coping with a brain injury and the satisfaction over progress made since starting rehabilitation at the non-profit facility.

Deirdre Blake took Superior Awards for both, Best Effort by an Individual Reporter and Best News Anchor.

The news staff also was presented with the Superior Award for its web site www.wflsnews.com. The news staff has taken that award each year since the category’s inception in 2005.

Date published: 4/21/2008