WSOU wins New York Press Club award for its political coverage

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The New York Press Club announced this spring that WSOU 89.5 FM is a winner in the category of “Political Coverage NYC Metro – Radio” for its 2021 election night coverage. This is the first time WSOU was recognized with this prestigious award.

Five College of Communication and the Arts students were recognized for their efforts on this segment: seniors Veronica Gail, Christian Gardner and Dylan Hunt; junior John Makuch; and sophomore Ryan Henry. 

“WSOU has long been recognized as one of the country’s top college radio stations for preprofessional development and student achievement,” said Jennifer Kajzer, WSOU’s sales and marketing manager. “That our audio programming can stand shoulder to shoulder with media outlets such WCBS-AM, Politico, Bloomberg Radio and Vice News speaks to the exceptional hands-on learning experience students receive at Seton Hall and WSOU. We are so proud that Christian, Dylan, John, Ryan and Veronica have been recognized for their outstanding work and reporting abilities.”

College of Communication and the Arts associate dean Ryan Hudes added, “We’re thrilled the New York Press Club recognized the work of our students as part of its award program. Rooted in the mission of WSOU 89.5 FM is a steadfast dedication to creating experiential opportunities for our students as early as their first year and this group of five students exemplify the impact in these opportunities.”

The award-winning broadcast on Nov. 2, 2021, included live coverage of both New Jersey’s gubernatorial and New York’s mayoral elections, as well as discussion of other elections across the country. Three students remained in the WSOU studio while two broadcasted live from Gov. Phil Murphy’s campaign party headquarters. The students reported twice an hour, beginning at 8 p.m. and ending at 1:30 a.m., when the New Jersey election winner announcement was postponed to the next day.

“This is such a huge achievement — my fellow students and I are honored and excited that our hard work is being recognized,” said Gail, who is from Wayne and graduating with a degree in visual and sound media with a concentration in TV production. “WSOU has helped us grow into the professionals we are today, and I cannot wait to apply the tools I learned here to projects I work on once I leave Seton Hall.”

Gail, who served as news director for this segment, is actively pursuing employment in media production. Hunt, a journalism major from West Babylon, N.Y., has accepted a position at Fox News as a podcast coordinator. Gardner, a visual and sound media major from Woodbridge, Va., will be working at ESPN as an ESPN Next production assistant. Undergraduates Makuch and Henry will be returning to WSOU in the fall, with Makuch serving as news director and Henry as staff representative.

  Seton Hall University, WSOU