JA
Jordan Ayers
  • Communication Studies
  • Class of 2014
  • Boonville, MO

Ayers Nominated for National Radio Award

2016 Feb 1

A public affairs broadcast program developed by two Central Methodist University students for area radio stations along with CMU's campus station, KCMU Eagle Radio, has been named a finalist for a national award from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS).

Central Methodist University students Nick Ruffy and Jordan Ayers are competing against broadcasters five other colleges and universities seeking honors in the "Best Public Affairs Program" category. The winner will be announced in early March at the annual IBS awards conference in New York City.

The program, called "This Week at CMU," is carried weekly on radio stations KWRT-AM in Boonville and KPIP-FM, a new low-power station in Fayette that also carries educational and community affairs programming. Portions of the program also are aired on KWIX-AM and FM of Moberly.

CMU students Nick Ruffy, a senior communications and criminal justice major from Lake Ozark, and Jordan Ayers, a senior communications major from Boonville, produce "This Week at CMU."

Both are Eagle Radio station managers. They work under the guidance of Dr. Kristin Cherry, associate professor of communications, and Kent Propst, executive director of CMU's Marketing Communications department, to produce the weekly program.

In addition to CMU, other finalists in the Public Affairs category include the likes of DePaul University and Rutgers University. More than 1,000 colleges and universities are members of IBS and a large number of them participated in the radio awards program this year.

"I am extremely proud that Nick and Jordan are being recognized on a national level for their work at KCMU," Cherry said. "It is a well-deserved honor just to be nominated, as IBS reported that their number of entries to the competition quadrupled from the previous year. Nick and Jordan are very talented in their audio production work.

"Eagle Radio has seen some substantial improvements in the past few years," Cherry added. "These changes were spearheaded by Nick and Jordan. Our most recent improvements include: more user-friendly software, upgraded equipment, new website (kcmueagleradio.com), and a larger presence on social media.

"These changes have led to an increase in student participation in the station - 27 DJ's this semester - and a large increase in listenership," Cherry said. "These changes would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the student directors."

In 2009, after nearly a half century of traditional broadcast operations over the air, CMU's campus radio became an Internet broadcasting station. It began as KMOE radio in 1960 and later became KCMC, then KCMU radio, broadcasting as a low-power AM station that did not reach beyond the city limits of Fayette.

To learn more about and listen to Eagle Radio, log onto www.KCMUeagleradio.com.