WKU News

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- WKU PBS, Western Kentucky University’s Public Television Service, has been nominated for awards in five categories for the 59^th annual Ohio Valley Emmy Awards.

Autism Inclusion in the Workplace 

 The nominations include content created by Darius Barati and Molly Swietek titled, Autism Inclusion in the Workplace. "Autism Inclusion in the Workplace is an important instructional guide for employers hiring individuals on the autism spectrum.We’re incredibly honored to have this project acknowledged at the highest level," said Swietek, Director of Public Relations & Grants at Lifeworks at WKU.

By Parties Unknown 

Three other nominations were for By Parties Unknown, a new WKU PBS documentary highlighting the events and the cultural climate surrounding the lynchings of four Black men in Russellville, Kentucky, in 1908. Through the perspective of Michael Morrow, community scholar and Executive Director of the SEEK Museum (Struggles for Emancipation and Equality in Kentucky), the stories of Rufus Browder, John Jones, Virgil Jones, John Boyer, and Joe Riley show a time when there existed a heightened awareness of unchecked mob violence in the South. By Parties Unknown was produced by Michael Morrow, Joshua Niedwick, and Neil Purcell. A WKU student crew also assisted in all levels of the production which encouraged this type of work in their future career aspirations. 

Morrow felt it important to “find the facts and tell them, so these five men's stories could be told, and their families and the community could receive the truth." Niedwick also felt the responsibility to tell their story, as he says, “the heart of the PBS mission to educate, serve underserved communities, and express diverse perspectives.”

The artwork within the documentary featured WKU graduate and artist Alice Gatewood Waddell’s interpretations of the real-life events in the early 1900s. 

ROMP

A fifth Emmy nomination went to Jeff Petrocelli’s audio engineering/musical composition for Rhiannon Giddens’ performance at ROMP. Petrocelli feels honored to work with an “outstanding team at WKU PBS” and is “grateful to be recognized with this nomination.”

WKU PBS received the following nominations for Ohio Valley Emmy Awards:

• Informational/ Instructional - Short Form or Long Form Content: AUTISM INCLUSION IN THE WORKPLACE, Darius Barati & Molly Swietek

• Documentary – Historical: BY PARTIES UNKNOWN, Joshua Niedwick, Neil Purcell & Michael Morrow

• Writer – Short Form or Long Form Content: BY PARTIES UNKNOWN, Joshua Niedwick

• Long Form Promotional Spot: BY PARTIES UNKNOWN (TRAILER), Joshua Niedwick

• Audio Engineering or Musical Composition: ROMP – RHIANNON GIDDENS, Jeff Petrocelli

Recipients will be announced July 29 in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. WKU PBS has been nominated in each of the past 21 years, receiving 30 awards.

WKYU is housed on the campus of Western Kentucky University. For more about WKYU, visit https://www.wkyupbs.org/

Contact: Rachel Cato, 270-745-6488, Rachel.Cato@wku.edu