PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two local programs produced on Pittsfield Community Radio, 89.7 WTBR-FM won Hometown Media Awards in a national contest conducted by the Alliance for Community Media.

 

"Backstory: Let's Hear it," produced by Roberta McCulloch-Dews, and "Berkshire Sports Now," hosted by Robbie Zucker and Sean Cronin, were chosen out of nearly one thousand submissions as best in their categories.

 

The Hometown Media Awards is the Foundation of the ACM's yearly awards program. It is established to honor and promote community media, community radio, and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access cable television channels.  Proceeds go to the ACM Foundation which is exclusively used for facilitating, preserving, and promoting education in community media.

 

"Backstory: Let's Hear it" won in the category of "Government Profile Community Radio."   The program is a weekly 1-hour radio program produced and hosted by Roberta McCulloch-Dews. Every week McCulloch-Dews interviews members of the community to hear their personal journeys, stories and life reflections.  These are people living their best lives and working to make the community a better place and airs on Friday mornings at 10 am.  This is WTBR-FM's second consecutive win in the category.

 

"I am absolutely thrilled and humbled to know that ‘Backstory-Let's Hear It' has received this amazing award," said McCulloch-Dews. "From the very beginning, my radio show and podcast have always centered on telling the stories of people in our community. To the listeners and supporters of Backstory, thank you so much. Keep listening as there's much more to come." 

 

"Berkshire Sports Now," was chosen as the best "Entertainment and Arts Community Radio Series."  Robbie Zucker and his co-host Sean Cronin come to the studio every Tuesday morning at 10 am and discuss everything in the wide world of sports, from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and discussions about local sports.  They take calls and generally whip up lots of great discussions and controversy.

 

"Sean and I are honored to receive this award," Zucker said.  "Thank you to the people at the Alliance for Community Media for their recognition and to our stations WTBR-FM for allowing us this opportunity."

 

All award-winning programs will be presented during the annual Hometown Media Awards Ceremony. The ceremony will be held in Brooklyn on Wednesday, June 28th at 7:30 pm.