Station also wins prestigious Freeman Award.

Date published: 4/10/2006

WFLS-FM’s news team has been named the state’s Outstanding News Operation of the Year by the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters.

The award for non-metropolitan stations was presented at the VAPB’s annual awards banquet Saturday night in Richmond. It was one of several awards won by the station and its news staff.

The award for outstanding news operation was in recognition of the WFLS news staff’s coverage of the Fredericksburg area and surrounding counties, stretching from Northern Virginia to Central Virginia and from Culpeper to the Northern Neck.

Judges based their decision on the staff’s writing ability, consistency, use of sound and special projects among other things. The judges said, “WFLS maximizes the resources of its relatively small news staff to create the feel of a much larger operation that can be everywhere it needs to be.”

The news team includes Penny Wack, Niche Herman, Nancy Ball, Darragh Copley and news director, Frank Hammon.

The station, owned by The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company, was also the recipient of the prestigious Douglas Southall Freeman Award for Public Service Through Radio Journalism for Copley's three-part series “Swiping at the Pump.” The series reported on the little known practice of placing a “hold” amount on debit and credit cards that are used directly at gas station pumps. The “hold” amount in most cases far exceeds what the person could ever pump into the gas tank at one time. The practice can freeze up one’s account for up to five days without them ever knowing about it, causing financial problems for people on a tight budget. The judges called it a “well thought-out series that presented compelling material. A true public service.”

The series was broadcast in mid-November.

WFLS reporter Nancy Ball was honored for her year’s work, receiving the Meritorious Award for Best Effort by an Individual Reporter.

The station also received the Superior Award for its web site www.wfls.com/news. In addition to breaking local, national and world news, the web site features links to regional weather radar, Virginia Railway Express schedule information, flight information at the area’s four major airports, local gasoline prices and traffic cameras.

WFLS-FM also won the Meritorious Award in the Continuing Coverag category for its series of stories “Vicious Dogs.” The series involved team coverage centered around the developments in the dog mauling death of Spotsylvania resident Dorothy Sullivan.

All of this year’s entries were judged by broadcasters in Tennessee.

Date published: 4/10/2006