Alumna the latest to earn prestigious “Gracie” award

Rowan Today, April 8, 2016

WGLS-FM alumna Jennifer O’Donnell will be honored by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation with a Gracie Award June 21 in New York.

O’Donnell will receive the prestigious award in the Investigative Program or Feature student category for her work on the Rowan Radio documentary “Living with Autism: A Different Way of Life.”

Co-produced with Michael Stoever and Blake Doughty during the fall of 2014, the program focused on autism through insightful analysis from expert interviews and a discussion with a family directly impacted by the disorder.

The documentary, produced in conjunction with WGLS-FM Station Manager Derek Jones’ Radio Production class, received awards from the Garden State Journalists Association and the Communicator Awards last year.

O’Donnell’s victory marks the third consecutive year a Rowan Radio station member received a Gracie Award and sixth win overall for WGLS-FM in the competition.

The Gracie Awards – named after entertainer and comedienne Gracie Allen – celebrate outstanding programming produced by women in media and entertainment.

Local, digital, public, and student winners will be saluted at the annual Gracies Awards luncheon, which benefits the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, a charitable, non-profit organization.

Past Rowan Gracie Award winners include Kelly King (2006), Juilia Giacoboni (2008), Rachael Burgess (2011), Allie Volpe (2014) and Ellen Hardy and Alyssa Sansone (2014).

Founded in 1951, the organization's past national award winners include Glenn Close, Claire Danes, Mariska Hargitay, Anjelica Huston, Mindy Kaling, Gayle King, Lisa Kudrow, Martha Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Barbara Walters and Betty White

Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM has won 258 regional and national awards since 1993.