Communiqué
Former WOUB Student Wins Regional Emmy
< < Back toKaitor Kay worked at WOUB from 2013-2015
ATHENS, OH – Former WOUB student Kaitor Kay now holds the title of Emmy award winner. Kay is now a television reporter and anchor at WANE 15 News in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Last weekend, he won a Lower Great Lakes Regional Emmy in the Best Societal Concerns Series category.
“I won the regional Emmy for a series called “Disturbing Discovery,” said Kaitor. “It was a tremendous honor.”
“Disturbing Discovery” looked at the community impact when boxes containing more than 2,000 aborted fetuses were found in an abortion doctor’s garage after he died. Kay spoke with former patients about how the discovery affected them, dug into the doctor’s history, and investigated how lawmakers would make sure something like this would never happen again.
“I wanted viewers to really feel what it meant for this man to have kept over 2,000 fetuses,” said Kaitor. “My photographer and I printed hundreds upon hundreds of ultrasound photos and hung them up in a display as a way to paint the picture for our viewers. It allowed them to feel the true gravity of the discovery. Our story was a long-form feature. In total, the two-part series was almost 15 minutes.”
Kaitor was also nominated for a regional Emmy in the Best Sports Story category for another story called “Changing the Face of Football” and recently won a Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) Regional Edward R. Murrow Best Sports Story award for that piece.
Kay worked at WOUB from 2013 to 2015 when he was getting his master’s degree in journalism from Ohio University.
“I was told that Ohio University’s journalism school was one of the top 10 in the country,” said Kay. “I knew that for broadcasting, WOUB was one of the big reasons it had that ranking.”
Kay volunteered at WOUB to get hands on, real-world training. He was a reporter, producer and anchor. He felt that because WOUB was both a PBS and NPR affiliate, students who reported news were held to a higher standard.
“In the classroom, there were no stakes,” said Kay. “At WOUB, you felt like you were doing something that could mean something to the community.”
However, Kay said one of the best parts about working at WOUB, was that when you did make a mistake, you were guided by quality professional staff members who helped you learn and grow as a journalist.
“Editor-in-Chief Allison Hunter worked in Los Angeles before coming to WOUB,” said Kay. “She encouraged us to be elite with our work, even if we failed, and taught us that it was okay to keep being innovative and creative.”
Now with an Emmy in hand, Kay is more thankful than ever for his time at WOUB.
“I learned at WOUB that when there is a big opportunity, not to be shy,” said Kay. “We trained at WOUB to dream big and shoot for the stars.”