ASHLAND – Ashland University’s radio station, WRDL 88.9 FM, television station, AUTV, and several students in the Journalism and Digital Media (JDM) Department were recently recognized with prominent awards from two different organizations – the International Student Broadcasting Championship (ISBC) and the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS).
In a first for AU, the ISBC honored WRDL as one of six finalists in its 2025 Best Audio Production category.
ISBC noted that audio production was its “most competitive award category” in the international competition (stations from England and South Africa were among the finalists).
ISBC, founded in 2023, is an innovative platform dedicated to talent discovery and development on a global scale and serves as a bridge between students/graduates and industry professionals.
Its annual competition includes award categories for radio broadcasting, podcasting, digital content and e-sports.
The IBS Media Awards announced its national finalists for 2025, and AU combined for honors in five categories across radio and television.
The radio finalists are:
Best Sports Play-by-Play (Top 6) – Hockey – Cade Cracas
Best Radio Drama (Top 5) – WRDL Christmas Special – Joshua Spencer, Lauren Gulden
Best ID – Broadcast Station (Top 6) – Joshua Spencer.
The television finalists are:
Best College/University Television Station (Top 7) – AUTV
Best Use of Graphics (Top 6) – AUTV
The finalist trophies and first-place awards will be presented during the annual IBS Conference on Feb. 20 and 21 in New York City. IBS, founded in 1940, is an organization with a membership of more than 1,000 non-profit, education-affiliated radio stations, television stations and webcasters.
“Being honored by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System and the International Student Broadcasting Championship continues to bring both national and, for the first time, international recognition to the program,” said Derek Wood, faculty advisor and general manager of WRDL.
“JDM provides students with an award-winning, hands-on learning experience that is designed to prepare and train students for a 21st century media landscape.”
AU, which has received annual recognition from IBS since 2016, was one of four Ohio colleges and universities with students among this year’s finalists.
AU’s JDM program of radio, television and print journalism was created when the department integrated its curriculum in 2010 in an effort to meet the challenges graduates will face upon entering an evolving media world.
“Ashland’s JDM program was indeed on the forefront of new media education regionally and nationally in 2010,” said David McCoy, Ph.D., who serves as faculty advisor for AUTV and chairs the JDM department.
“Our program continues to be a model of rigorous academics reinforced by professional learning opportunities for 21st century journalists.”
The JDM program was recognized in 2012 as one of 47 journalism programs in the country that fully converged its print and broadcast curriculum. AU was the only program in Ohio that received this distinction.