On Monday, the Alabama Broadcasters Association presented its fifteenth annual ABBY Awards, recognizing Alabama’s Best in Broadcasting for 2020. Because of the pandemic, the awards were presented in separate radio and TV presentations online.
Brett Elmore of WJLX in Jasper won the ABBY Award for “Small Market Radio Personality or Team”.
“I am honored to be recognized with so many talented broadcasters in this state,” said Elmore. “2020 was challenging, obviously, but I thought the show brought some entertainment and was also very informative.”
When attendees assembled on Saturday, March 7, 2020, for the annual awards dinner, they had no idea it would be the last time any of them would gather in a large group for more than a year Within a week, the Covid-19 pandemic was the lead news story. Twelve months later, the pandemic still requires that people practice social distancing and wear masks in public. While the pandemic came at a very personal cost to many and kept people apart physically, broadcasters continued to hold their communities together.
ABA Board of Director’s Chairman, Tommy Lee of Sand Mountain Broadcasting said, “Radio and television stations across Alabama worked under unprecedented conditions to fulfil their promise to serve in the public interest. The pandemic did not prevent them from providing daily news, entertainment and information. Nor did it stop them from keeping their communities safe, providing hope and demonstrating that ‘we are all in this together.”
ABA President Sharon Tinsley added, “Broadcasters were not only challenged by the pandemic. Many put themselves in harm’s way to cover civil unrest and severe weather. And they reported on one of the most contentious presidential elections in modern history. While 2020 was unlike any other year, it did not defeat local broadcasters.”
This is the fourth ABBY Award for Elmore. “The Brett Elmore Show” airs weekdays 2pm until 6pm on WJLX 101.5 FM.