St. Cloud, Minn. – Students of KVSC 88.1FM will bring home 16 Associated Press awards after the conclusion of the Midwest Journalism Conference in Bloomington, Minn. April 8-9. Included in the awards are “Best in Show” for Kevin Hurd’s feature news story “Bachmann-Palin Rally” and a complete sweep in the sports categories.

“It is a testament to our entire Sports Department and our hardworking staff to sweep the 2010 AP Awards,” Sports Director Zack Fisch said. “We have so many talented broadcasters and to have many of them honored is well deserved.”

KVSC provides St. Cloud State University students with the opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to live broadcasts and feature stories. “The real-life experience KVSC has given me and our entire sports staff is second to none,” Fisch said. “KVSC gives all of us a chance to get behind the mic of high profile NCAA events as students.”

KVSC News Director Chris Duffy also finds his experience rewarding and important in developing journalistic skills. “It [KVSC] has allowed me to hone my journalistic talents as well as develop leadership and mentoring skills working with undergraduate journalists,” Duffy said. “No matter where I end up in life, I will always look back on my time at KVSC with pride.”

KVSC is a student-run educational and community radio station on the St. Cloud State campus and competes in the radio class-one category designed for stations with one or zero full-time newsroom employees. KVSC broadcasts eight weekday newscasts and more than 60 SCSU sporting events throughout the academic year.

KVSC News Director Chris Duffy is humbled by the success of the station and is certainly proud of its achievements. “We had an exceptional year covering stories Central Minnesotans care about,” Duffy said. “While we are not motivated by external awards, it sure feels good to receive them.”

KVSC 88.1FM, the Voice of St. Cloud since 1967, is an educational public radio station licensed to St. Cloud State University. KVSC follows a commercial-free alternative music format and provides award-winning news coverage and community events. Students and community volunteers make0 up the staff of KVSC. For more on these awards including podcasts of the award-winning broadcasts, visit www.kvsc.org.

The Minnesota Associated Press Broadcasters Contest takes place annually with awards given to broadcasts from the previous year. The Midwest Journalism Conference plays host to the Minnesota AP Awards and is one of the largest regional journalism conferences in the country, attracting hundreds of journalists from Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

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