Special to the Reporter

The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) has announced the finalists for its annual Golden Microphone Awards and Mercer Island High School (MIHS) broadcast and media students received 48 nominations. KMIH 88.9 The Bridge is up for 44 awards and the high school’s new media technology program is nominated in four categories. The highly competitive IBS Awards recognize excellence in college and high school broadcasting nationwide.

KMIH 88.9 The Bridge’s nominations span a wide range of categories, including sports play-by-play, live broadcasting and best documentary. Seniors Gill MacDonald and Miles Avilez top the list of finalists. Both students are nominated in multiple categories — MacDonald received six nominations for outstanding sports talk and Avilez five for his excellent news coverage.

KMIH adviser and veteran journalist Natalie Woods credits the radio students’ hard work.

“We’ve challenged our students to continually develop their broadcasting skills and these nominations prove that KMIH is producing and delivering professional on-air content,” she said.

Another bright spot comes from MIHS.TV. The media technology class is in its first year at MIHS and received four nominations in the video divisions.

KMIH general manager and adviser Joe Bryant finds the continued growth of the MIHS broadcast media arts very exciting.

“The record number of nominations for our students is a testament to their talent and engaged work. I’m also thrilled that our video and production teacher Michael Ketchum has joined the MIHS media team. Video students getting nominated for national awards after only four months of Ketch’s teaching demonstrates how quickly he has impacted our media program,” Bryant said.

IBS Golden Microphone Award winners will be announced during a live ceremony in New York City on Feb. 26, 2023. KMIH 88.9 The Bridge and MIHS.TV staff and student broadcasters will be in attendance.