NATOA Announces the 2006 Government Programming Award Winners

The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) last Friday announced the winners of its 21st Annual Government Programming Awards. The Awards recognize excellence in broadcast, cable, multimedia and electronic programming produced by local government agencies. This year, NATOA received over 1,100 entries representing 180 agencies from 28 states across the country.

"Both the high number and the wide range of entries clearly demonstrate that local community and government television programming is very much alive and vibrant in our nation," commented NATOA President Lori Panzino-Tillery. The entries spanned 63 award categories including, among others, community events, documentary, public affairs and service, interview/talk show, performing arts, sports, election coverage and children/young adults.

Among the awards with special significance is the "NATOA Programming Impact Award," which recognizes programs that impact a viewer's "heart, mind and community spirit." Panzino-Tillery presented the 2006 Impact Award to The City of Tacoma, TV Tacoma, Wash., for its exceptional program, Tall Ships Tacoma -- Parade of Sail.

Other special awards included the final four awards presented during the Gala event which recognized "Excellence in Government Programming," and were judged not on a single program but on the agency's variety of programming quality throughout the year. The Excellence awards were presented to four NATOA jurisdictions, including:

• Town of Castle Rock, Colo., the winner out of six entries for jurisdictions with operating budgets up to $100,000. Castle Rock also received an additional four awards.
• DeKalb County Government/DCTV, Ga., the winner out of 22 entries for jurisdictions with operating budgets of $100,000 to $250,000. DeKalb County received one additional award.
• City of Southfield, City Cable 15, Mich., the winner from among 17 jurisdictions with operating budgets of $250,000 to $500,000.
• City of Tucson, Channel 12, Ariz., the winner out of 17 jurisdictions with budgets over $500,000. Tucson received an additional 11 awards.

Panzino-Tillery, who presented the Excellence in Government Programming awards, noted that, "NATOA is proud to celebrate the important contributions of access programming in building stronger, tighter-knit communities. NATOA members produce the finest quality of programming, easily comparable to that of other networks. In fact, not only does this programming look great, local governments are using this [to] provide pertinent information to their communities on matters that may affect [them] on a much higher and more personal level. This is truly important work in today's challenging and uncertain times."

A complete list of the 2006 NATOA Government Programming Awards winners is available online.