WMPG won two awards from this year’s Maine Association of Broadcasters (MAB) convention. The Blunt Youth Radio Project won first place in the Public Affairs division for their series “Incarcerated Youth Speaks Out.” In the feature division, Rob Rosenthal’s production of “Portland Reacts to 9/11” won third place. The convention took place on Sep. 20 at the Atlantic Oakes Inn in Bar Harbor.
The Blunt Youth Radio Project is an opportunity for teens to gain training and experience in broadcasting while discussing public affairs. In the summer of 2000, Blunt Youth began “Incarcerated Youth Speaks Out” to give teenagers at the Long Creek Youth Development Center a chance to share their stories. WMPG station manager Jim Rand said, “Blunt Youth has been doing programming for seven or eight years.” In 1997 and 2001, they won the Golden Reel (first place) from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in different categories. Blunt Youth can be heard Monday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
“We are proud of our hardware,” Rand said as he pointed out some of their winning features. In 2000, WMPG won an award for excellence in radio news for their feature piece “Martin Luther King, Jr.” In 1997, the station won a Silver Reel (second place) for their program Big Talk, which can be heard on Thursday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
MAB is a professional trade association representing all Maine radio and television broadcasters. They sponsor an annual awards ceremony to recognize excellence in all areas of broadcasting. MAB also tracks legislation regarding communications, representing the broadcasters of Maine on a legal level. MAB is involved in community service, sponsoring air-time for non-profit organizations.
Melissa St.Germain can be reached at [email protected]