Thursday, March 29, 2001

By Gregory Piatt, Belgium bureau

MONS, Belgium — Sgt. Doug Boyles thought that he might place in at least one or maybe two categories when the Army’s Keith L. Ware journalism awards were announced recently.

But being awarded the Army’s John T. Anderson Military Broadcaster of the Year wasn’t that big of a surprise for Boyles as he took two first place finishes in two categories and placed in two more in the Armywide competition.

It was taking first place in the Radio Entertainment Category with his Morning Wake-up radio show that shocked the station’s noncommissioned officer in charge of radio at the Armed Forces Network Radio and TV affiliate here at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

"My morning radio show came in second place to the Z-FM AM Show out of Frankfurt [the third place winner in the Radio Entertainment Program Category] in two competitions before this one," Boyles said on Monday. "So I didn’t even expect it to win."

Along with his two first-place finishes, Boyles also took third place finishes in the TV videography and TV sports report categories.

But Boyles wasn’t the only broadcaster at AFN SHAPE to win.

AFN SHAPE’s broadcast operations manager, Pam Proper, was named Civilian Broadcast Journalist of the Year. Proper won or placed in two other broadcast categories in the Keith L. Ware competition. She placed first in the local TV newscast category and second for a command information spot on counterintelligence.

The yearly Keith L. Ware journalism awards recognize the best journalists, broadcasters, Army journalistic publications, Websites and local, regional and network radio and TV broadcasts. It names winners and finalists in different categories of print or broadcast journalism. The winners in all categories go on to compete in April at the Department of Defense level against all four services.

However, it isn’t winning Keith L. Ware journalism awards that motivates Proper. It is the mentoring role she relishes, teaching broadcasters right out of Defense Information School to become award-winning journalists, she said.

"It’s not that people walk in the door as broadcasters of the year," Proper said. "They have about six months of frustration. But we build a team here and work with them."

That has been evident since AFN SHAPE won a Department of Defense-wide award last year for its TV newscast and for TV spot production in 1998.

"I guess we are lucky," Boyles said about AFN SHAPE’s success. "Pam provides professionalism and we also critique each other. That helps."

The passing on of her professionalism and building of an award-winning team at AFN SHAPE came as a result from not winning Broadcast Journalist of the Year in past years, Proper said. She competed for Military Broadcast Journalist of the Year from 1984 to 1998, when she left the Army as a sergeant, but didn’t get the nod. Ever since then she has competed for the Civilian Broadcast Journalist of the Year, but came up short.

Then two years ago, she turned her focus away from her pursuit of trying to win the elusive prize.

"I decided in 1999 to put my energy into helping others focus on winning awards since I wasn’t winning," Proper said. "Now, I am more excited that Doug won than in my own winning. If I would have won and Doug didn’t, my win would have been hollow."

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