News Bites: WUSF, NAFB Hall Of Fame, LiveOne, Media Financial Management Association. | Story

News Bites for July 17…

• University of South Florida news/talk WUSF Tampa (89.7) took home honors in five categories from the Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Awards, a regional competition recognizing excellence in journalism in 2024. WUSF’s staff took home a second-place award in the breaking news category for its work covering the immediate impacts of Hurricane Helene. Individual reporters and a host were honored in four other categories, including Cathy Carter (Newscast), Stephanie Colombini (Explanatory Reporting), and Kerry Sheridan (General News Reporting). WUSF, meanwhile, was part of a third-place honor in the Environmental Reporting category for a collaboration among the Florida Trident, Oviedo Community News, Central Florida Public Media and WGCU.

• The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) has named Janet Adkison and Gale Cunningham as the 2025 inductees in the NAFB Hall of Fame. They will be celebrated at the Night of Honors banquet on Thursday, Nov. 20, during the 82nd NAFB Convention in Kansas City. “Janet and Gale have been strong leaders within the NAFB and have reputations for selflessly giving back to their communities and supporting the next generation of ag communicators and youth in agriculture,” Carah Hart, Chair of the 2025 NAFB Hall of Fame Committee, said in a news release. “We are delighted to honor them as this year’s inductees.”

• PodcastOne parent LiveOne has announced a strategic partnership with Arca, a leading institutional crypto-native asset management firm, to co-manage its expanding cryptocurrency treasury portfolio. “By joining forces with Arca and leveraging our internal advisory team, we look forward to executing our multi-coin strategy aimed at generating high yield returns,” CEO Robert Ellin says. PodcastOne announced last month that it’s making a big investment in cryptocurrency, with the launch of a new network under its banner that is dedicated to the fast-growing digital finance space.

• The Media Financial Management Association (MFM) announces the appointment of new officers and board members. Jenna Hardy, CFO of Probably Monsters, was elected to serve as the association’s Chair of the Board for 2025-2026. Other officers elected by the MFM Board of Directors Executive Committee include Vice Chair and 2026 Conference Chair Beth Bramowski, CAO and Controller at Audacy; Secretary and 2026 Conference Co-Chair Lori Brock, SVP/Financial Operations at Gray Media; and Treasurer Sean Hetzler, VP Tax at TEGNA. Joseph J. Annotti, the Association’s President and CEO, also serves as a member of the Executive Committee. MFM members also elected two new members to the MFM Board of Directors for a three-year term. The new directors are Pamela Mudge, RVP, Strategic Client Accounts, RGP, and Robert Pratt, SVP, Global Financial Operations, Sony Pictures Entertainment. Current Board Members elected for an additional three-year term will be Kerry Coffey, CFO, Velan Studios; Daniel Gallagher, VP, Operations Controller, Sinclair; and Randy Neff, VP, Szabo Associates.