WYSO 91.3 was honored June 25–27 with awards from the Public Media Journalists Association last week. From left: WYSO General Manager Luke Dennis, Eichelberger Center for Community Voices founder Neenah Ellis and Lee Wade, a PMJA fellow and creator of new WYSO series “Translucent.” (Submitted photo)
WYSO, Neenah Ellis receive public media awards
- Published: July 9, 2025
The WYSO news team recently returned from Kansas City, Missouri, where the team received one first-place and three second-place awards from the Public Media Journalists Association, or PMJA.
A first-place award was given to WYSO’s one-hour documentary, “A Matter of Impact: A Look Back at the Decade Since John Crawford II Was Killed.”
Second-place awards went to the second episode of “The Ohio Country,” which centers the experiences of Miami, Shawnee, Wyandotte and other American Indian people; WYSO’s national coverage of the experiences of Haitians in Ohio; and the “Wilberforce Tornado 50th Anniversary Oral History Project,” which explores how Central State and Wilberforce universities were affected by the 1974 tornado.
In addition to the awards, Eichelberger Center for Community Voices founder Neenah Ellis was honored with the Leo C. Lee Award for her contributions to public media journalism over a 50-year career. In that time, she produced for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” created award-winning documentaries and wrote the New York Times bestseller “If I Live to Be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians.”
Ellis, who came on board at WYSO as general manager in 2009, helped revitalize the Miami Valley public radio station after a previous general manager cut many of the station’s long–running popular volunteer shows in favor of nationally syndicated programs. That year, she told the News that she was focused on striking a balance between national and community-centered programming — a challenge she said she was game to undertake.
“I like jumping off a cliff once in a while,” she said in 2009. “I like a steep learning curve.”
In 2011, Ellis leaned into community radio by creating the local station’s Community Voices program, which trains community members to create and produce their own stories. In 2019, she led WYSO in securing its independence through a $3 million campaign. The same year, after a decade at WYSO’s helm, Ellis handed the general manager reins to Luke Dennis as she founded the Eichelberger Center to expand the Community Voices program.
Dennis presented the Leo C. Lee Award to Ellis. During her acceptance speech, Ellis took time to speak on the history of WYSO as a community-run, community-oriented station, and how understanding and investing in its listener community turned the station into what it is today.
She especially noted her work with the Community Voices program, which has spawned such long-running series as “WYSO Youth Radio,” “Veterans’ Voices” and “Culture Couch.” Recent series include “Haitians In the Heartland” and “Translucent,” the latter of which was created by recent Antioch College graduate and PMJA Fellow Lee Wade and aims to uplift transgender voices through stories of identity, community and resilience.
“[Community Voices producers] have made hundreds of stories and more than 25 different series since we taught the first class in 2011,” Ellis said in her speech. “And what their stories have in common is that they present people talking about themselves — not just being talked about. And these are people whose stories are not usually heard.”
Ellis also paid tribute to the late Mary Evans, the creator of WYSO’s “Re-Entry Stories,” a series focused on incarcerated people returning to their communities in Ohio; Evans died June 19, at the age of 42.
“I can’t imagine anyone else doing this project … and we are heartbroken to lose her,” Ellis said. “I’m happy to get to say her name to all of you.”
The awards ceremony took place as public media outlets continue to be at risk at the federal level: The House voted in June to pull $1.1 billion of funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports outlets like WYSO in providing community-based reporting and programming. Public media advocates are urging the Senate to reject the House’s decision.
For her part, Ellis ended her acceptance speech by celebrating public media and expressing a note of love — for those with whom she has worked and for radio as a creative medium.
“You hear more than words and music — you hear people breathe and think,” Ellis said. “And let me remind you — there’s truth in the silence. There is time and hope in the silence. Try to leave it there. Don’t always go tightening things up.”
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