Monday, Aug 7, 1:15pm

Laurel TV has a three year winning streak going—earning five bronze Telly Awards in this highly competitive television industry award season.

Now the staff has reached a major milestone. Laurel TV has been awarded a Silver Telly—the top honor given in this world-wide competition. They don’t give out Gold Tellys. There were more than 13,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents this year. The Silver brings Laurel TV’s Telly total to six.

“Just when I thought their work couldn’t get any better, they outdo themselves,” says Laurel Mayor Craig A. Moe. “It’s nice to see that the hard work the Communications Department and staff of Laurel TV do every day is recognized by their peers.”

Assistant Communications Director Joycelyn Jackson earned the Silver Telly for a story she reported for and wrote on a program called “Athletes Serving Athletes”. It pairs able-bodied athletes with those with some challenges. Communications Director Audrey Barnes was honored as well for helping to produce the award-winning piece. 

“When Joyce asked me to read the piece and offer my editing tweaks, I literally got chills doing it. It was so poignant and well-crafted. My job was very easy. Joyce had already done the heavy lifting on this one,” Barnes says. “She earned it.”

“When I found out what David Slomkowski, who’s from Laurel, was doing with this program, I knew it was a story I had to tell,” Jackson says. “Audrey and I kept joking about wanting to finally get a Silver Telly. I think we both knew this story would do it for us.”

The Athletes Serving Athletes piece was also awarded a national Hometown Media Award from the Alliance for Community Media. Director Barnes flew to Minneapolis to accept it in July.

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