A beautiful fall day greeted stations from Plattsburgh and Glens Falls at the famous Sagamore Resort Hotel for the annual “Serving New York” luncheon. Congratulations to the following stations, who received awards:
WPTZ-TV – In addition to several successful outreach efforts including the market’s only broadcast supported school supply and toy drives, WPTZ began a quarterly town hall meeting series this year. Each meeting is held in a different town and promoted by the station. The meetings have given the station valuable insights into the communities in its service area and have been a win-win for both the station and for its viewers.
WCFE-TV – In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown CT, Mountain Lakes PBS responded to the needs of the community that was asking difficult questions through a series of on-air an on-line efforts spanning the months that followed. The campaign included weekly roundtable discussions by educators, posting resources to help families deal with difficult news, providing information for viewers to help survivors and programs focusing on New York’s new gun control law. The campaign culminated in a one hour interactive call in program with educators, mental health experts and law enforcement officials.
WIRY – In addition to sponsoring numerous activities in the community, WIRY sponsored the “Walk of Hope & Spring Festival.” The downtown Plattsburgh event helped raise money to fund research for several neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. In the first two years the station has helped raise nearly $200,000.
WNBZ – Rock 105 gave up its regular music and news programming to broadcast “High Peaks Hospice Radio Day.” Working with its partners, the station broadcasted live from the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake. During Radio Day the station broadcast programming about Hospice and their effort to provide dignity comfort and peace at the end of life. Radio Day 2013 helped raise over $46,000.