WKU News

WKU Public Media staff members Joshua Niedwick (left) and Jeff Petrocelli (right) received Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Awards on Saturday (July 29) at the 59^th Annual Emmy Awards Gala in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Niedwick, WKU PBS producer and director, was nominated for three Emmy Awards for By Parties Unknown and took home an Emmy Award for the Long Form Promotional Spot (Trailer) of the documentary. Other Emmy nominations for the documentary included the Documentary – Historical category (Joshua Niedwick, Neil Purcell and Michael Morrow) as well as for the Writer of Short Form of Long Form Content (Joshua Niedwick). Click here to view the promotional spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjXNfRE3yis

Petrocelli also took home an Emmy Award for the Audio Engineering or Musical Composition category for Rhiannon Giddens’ performance at ROMP, presented by the Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. The link for the Audio Engineering or Musical Composition category is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0jb_4xfjg8

Niedwick spoke about the documentary upon his nominations: “Working and collaborating with such amazing and talented colleagues and students has been a humbling experience and a pleasure.  When I first met with Michael Morrow in the summer of 2018, and he shared the story of Rufus Browder and the four lynching victims, I knew we had a responsibility to help him tell it.  The harrowing tale of Rufus Browder and the lynching of John Jones, Virgil Jones, Joe Riley, and John Boyer is at the heart of the PBS mission to educate, serve underserved communities, and express diverse perspectives.  For the next four years, we undertook one of the most reverent opportunities to work with Michael to carefully construct a documentary film that shared this story and placed it within its crucial historical and cultural context.”

Petrocelli also thanked the WKU PBS family upon acceptance of his award. “It's truly an honor to work with the outstanding team at WKU PBS, and I'm grateful to be recognized."

WKU PBS was also nominated in the Informational/ Instructional – Short Form or Long Form Content category for a piece titled Autism Inclusion in the Workplace.

WKU PBS has been nominated in each of the past 21 years, now having received 32 total awards. WKU PBS is housed on the campus of Western Kentucky University. To learn more, visit https://www.wkyupbs.org/

Contact: WKU Public Media, (270) 745-2400

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Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.