NAFB Blog

The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF)has announced winners of the 2018 Celebration of Service to America Awards, recognizing outstanding community service by local broadcasters. Winners will be honored at the Celebration of Service to America dinner on June 12 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC. “Local broadcasters play a crucial role in informing, supporting and strengthening communities across our country,” said NABEF President Marcellus Alexander. “This year’s winners represent the ethos of broadcasting and the industry’s unwavering commitment to public service. We look forward to honoring these outstanding stations in the nation’s capital.”

Rita Frazer (RFD Radio Network, Bloomington, IL) said, “As I prepare to celebrate my 50^th birthday, I am honored to have the opportunity to share a few highlights from the RFD Radio Network’s (RFDRN) 50^th anniversary celebration.” She explains, “The celebration included special features in our monthly newsletter that shared stories about the broadcasters that built the network. Farm broadcasters like Dick Helton and Art Sechrest broke in the microphones at the network, making way for farm voices like Max Armstrong. Armstrong grew up on an Indiana farm before heading to Purdue University. While in college he started his radio career working part-time at WASK (Lafayette, IN), WRAY (Princeton, IN), and WVMC (Mount Carmel, IL).

AG CENTRAL RADIO NETWORK IS ON THE AIR – Mick Kjar reports that the Ag Central Radio Network is on the air. This network covers North and South Dakota and adjacent areas of western Minnesota.  “It’s a little different than your normal or traditional radio network.  Yes, we do farm news; in fact, nine three-minute reports and nine 90-second reports daily,” he said.   “But stations can carry these as they fit into their programming, and not at a regular ‘hit time’ as is usually done on a radio network.” Mick adds, “The same format for weather programming is offered, with five longer version weather analysis programs and hourly 30-second weather forecasts 24 hours a day, and again, stations air the weather programs when it fits into their programming.” 

A lifelong passion for agriculture has brought a Missouri native farm broadcaster to Kansas. Sara Miles joins the Kansas Farm and Ranch Radio team as the Farm Director. Sacha Sanguinetti, General Manager and Vice President of Radio for Rocking M Media, said, “We are constantly looking for new and better ways to pass along the vital information producers need. Sara is an innovative, self-driven, natural-born leader who brings a fresh approach to  ag media.” She grew up on a family farm in northeast Missouri which spans five generations where she developed a passion for agriculture