ISU’s national public radio station, WOI Radio, has received national recognition for its news coverage.

Rick Frederickson, WOI news director and reporter, said the station received first place in the breaking news category and second place in continuing coverage.

Frederickson said the awards came from the Public Radio News Directors Inc., a professional organization of pubic radio news directors and reporters.

“PRNDI is the only national organization of its kind because it centers on only public radio, which does more in-depth coverage of news,” he said. “They have an annual awards competition for local news programs on public radio. “There are many categories within the competition, and each radio station is also put into a market size category. We were in the medium market size because we have three to four full-time reporters.”

Bill McGinley, general manager of WOI Radio, said the station was very pleased to receive these awards.

“The PRNDI awards were certainly a highlight. They are a great indicator of our news and informational programming, especially when they come from our colleagues in the radio business,” he said.

McGinley also said 1999 was the station’s most successful year for awards.

“This year we garnered more than 30 awards from various competitions,” he said. “We’re very happy, and it gives us a sense of pride to be recognized by these regional and statewide competitions for radio.”