KCLU honored with 6 Golden Mike awards

(UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – Jan. 25, 2016) Local National Public Radio affiliate KCLU won more Golden Mike Awards for news excellence than any other small radio station in Southern California at a ceremony Saturday.

News Director Lance Orozco picked up the six awards for his stories at the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California’s 66th annual event at the Universal Hilton in Universal City. Broadcast newsrooms in a region stretching from San Luis Obispo and Fresno to the Mexican border competed. KCLU is in Division B, the category for stations with five or fewer news staff members.

KCLU won for Best Radio Spot News Coverage for “Mudslides Hit Camarillo Springs”; Best Radio Use of Sound for “Sounding The Horn For Train Safety,” a look at local fatal train collisions; and Best Radio Sports Reporting for a story about the Cowboys and Rams training in Ventura County.

Orozco also won top honors for Best Radio Business and Consumer Reporting for “Who Says Doctors Don’t Make House Calls Anymore?”, a story about a pilot program bringing medical care into the homes of Santa Barbara County seniors; Best Radio Medical and Science Reporting” for “From Toilet to Tap,” about an effort to convert wastewater into drinking water in Ventura; and Best Radio Entertainment Reporting” for “Arts for Autism,” which profiled a Thousand Oaks theater camp featuring kids on the autism spectrum.

KCLU members provide the financial resources needed to produce the award-winning news focused on the tri-county region. About 65 percent of the budget comes from listener pledges and another 15 percent comes from business sponsors.

The station provides NPR and local news programming in Ventura County at 88.3 FM, Santa Barbara County at 102.3 FM and 1340 AM, Santa Maria at 89.7 FM, San Luis Obispo at 92.1 FM, and online at kclu.org. The station is a community service of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.