AFN Korea garners top broadcast honors at Thomas Jefferson Awards program
By B.R. Sargent, Seoul bureau
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
Staff Sgt. Ron Rogers anchors a radio newscast on American Forces Korea Network, Yongsan
Garrison, Seoul. His newscast took first place Thomas Jefferson and Keith L. Ware awards. |
YONGSAN GARRISON — Broadcasters from American Forces Network
Korea showed their prowess behind the mike, taking top honors in their respective fields
at the Thomas Jefferson Awards competition.
The Thomas Jefferson Awards program is the top competition for
military broadcasters and journalists.
AFN Korea had two radio newscasts and one television program capture
first-place honors. The station also won two second-place awards for television
broadcasts.
One newscast, called “Always Ready,” focused on how
soldiers maintain readiness.
The other top-rated newscast reported the efforts of the Defense
Department to find Americans missing in North Korea.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Ron Rogers, 32, who anchored and wrote the
POW/MIA spot, said the judges had a lot to consider. “It was content and production
quality; how we presented the content and how we communicated (that message),” he
said. Rogers said the judges were members of the civilian print and broadcast media, from
an NBC news producer to a bureau chief of The (Baltimore) Sun. “(We) had to be
consistent with civilian (news) standards,” he said.
The first-place television information program, “Climbing Mount
Fuji,” focused on the emotion, experience, elements and physical strain involved in
the climb, Rogers said. The program was anchored by Sgt. Damian Kelly, who works out of
Yokota Air Base, Japan.
The network’s 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts captured a
second-place award. “It stood out because it had good, strong news, was well anchored
and well produced,” Rogers said. Air Force Staff Sgt. Pachari Lutke anchored the
newscast.
The station’s annual television command information campaign
focusing on the 50th anniversary of the Korean War won second-place honors. It encompassed
numerous television and radio spots and programs.
Sgt. 1st Class Ron Bingham, the show’s producer, said,
“countless people and hundreds of hours of work went into the making of the campaign.
“I can’t stress the team effort enough,” said Bingham, 42. “Nothing
gets done in this building without someone else’s help.”
The broadcast team first competed in the worldwide Army competition,
Keith L. Ware journalism awards. In the Ware awards, they took home five first-place
awards, three second-place awards and one third-place award.
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