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Wes Akers

XXXX Grey Stable Lane

Highland Heights, KY  41076

(XXX) XXX-XXXX

akersw@nku.edu

 

EDUCATION

 

Bachelor of Arts, Journalism with minor in Radio and Television

Northern Kentucky University, 1996

 

Master of Arts, Communication with emphasis in Film and Video Studies

Florida Atlantic University, 2005

 

WORK HISTORY

 

2000, 2004-Present

  • Fulltime, Teaching Professor, Electronic Media and Broadcasting at Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky

 

Currently teach:

 

EMB 105 Diversity in the Media (Online)

EMB 110 Introduction to Mass Media

EMB 305 Multi-camera Production

EMB 310 Newscast Productions

EMB 330 Live Broadcast Production

EMB 335 Sports Media Production

 

Past courses taught:  Single Camera Production, Advanced News Production, Advanced News Writing, Intro to Telecommunications, Documentary Film and Theory, Broadcast History, Public Speaking, Broadcast Productions: Special Topics (Included:  Studio’89 live concert series for KET/PBS, Norse Media News Program, Florence Freedom minor league baseball video board, The NKU Sports Show, and live telecasts of NKU basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball and baseball games for the ASUN-TV Network, WKRP-TV Channel 25 Cincinnati, O., Channel 12.2 WKRC-CinCW Cincinnati, O., NBC Sports Channel Chicago, Fox Sports Ohio, Bally’s Sports Ohio, ESPN3 and ESPN +.)

 

2011-Present

  • Free-lance special assignment news producer of nationally distributed television and radio news documentaries for Public Broadcasting station WTIU-TV and National Public Radio station WFIU at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.            .

 

2005-Present

  • Director/Producer of live sports telecasts for sporting events at Northern Kentucky University for TKR/Insight local origination cable channel 6,  WKRP-TV (channel 25.1),  CinCW (channel 12.2), ASUN-TV network, ESPN3, ESPN+, NBC Sports Channel Chicago, Fox Sports Ohio, Bally’s Sports Ohio, FanDuelTV)

 

2011

  • Adjunct Instructor at Indiana University. I taught a graduate-level Broadcast Journalism Bootcamp class at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (Summer semester).

 

1997- Present

  • Free-lance television production (cameras, jib, audio, replay, CG, & Viz Libero operator, PA (in-game sponsorship logger)

Main employers:  Fox Sports Ohio, Bally’s Sports Ohio, ESPN, ESPN2, HBO, The Cincinnati Reds, The Cincinnati Bengals, F/X , PBS, ABC, CBS College Sports Network. I’ve primarily worked linear productions of Reds baseball, Bengals football, Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey and major college basketball and football for either major TV networks, professional sports teams, or regional sports networks.

 

1999- Present

  • Independent Free-lance corporate gigs/projects: 

Create post-production videos including commercials, public service 

announcements, and corporate videos. Prominent clients have included:       Cincinnati Reds, The Council of State Governments, The Carl Linder Family, Insight Communications, The City of Newport, Kentucky, Actaris US Gas.

 

2006, 1995

  • Volunteer, 89.7 WNKU Public Radio, Highland Heights, KY 

Duties Included:  Assisted producer with research, recording and preparing soundbites and screening callers for the public affairs show, “Speaking Frankly.” Also assisted with election night coverage:  coordinated field reports from reporters, recorded soundbites, and edited copy. 

      

2002- 2004

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant & Lecturer, Florida Atlantic University

Courses taught included:  Film Appreciation, Public Speaking, Intro to 

Communication Processes and Rhetoric.

 

1999-2000

  • Director/Producer/Anchor, “Frankfort:  Northern Kentucky’s Perspective”

Duties Included:  Produced a weekly half-hour television news program focusing

on legislative issues about Kentucky’s state government for ICN-6 local origination cable channel, Covington, KY.   

 

1989- 2000

  • Free-Lance Writer 

Publications Included:  Kentucky Monthly Magazine, State Government News,

Recorder Community Newspapers of Northern Kentucky, The Northerner (NKU),

Shout Magazine (Columbus, OH), The Guardian (Wright State University), Brookville Star (Brookville, OH).

 

1996-1999

  • News Reporter/ Videographer, “Northern Kentucky Tonight”, TKR Channel 6 (Local Origination Covington, KY)

Duties included:  Writing, editing, shooting, and voicing news packages, VOs, and VOSOTs.  Also produced cut-ins for CNN Headline News in Northern

Kentucky.  Provided video footage for Cincinnati, Ohio CBS affiliate, WKRC-TV

Channel 12, and ABC affiliate WCPO-TV Channel 9.  

 

CREATIVE HONORS & AWARDS

   

  • Camera operator for Midwest Regional Emmy (1999) for “Live Sports Coverage” of Cincinnati Reds baseball with Fox Sports Net Ohio.

  • Camera operator for Midwest Regional Emmy (2002) for “Live Sports Coverage” of Columbus Bluejackets hockey for Fox Sports Net Ohio.

  • Camera operator for Cincinnati Reds video board crew winners of two Golden Matrix Awards (2005) given by the Image Display & Entertainment Association for the best in-house video productions at arenas and stadiums. First place for “Best Overall Video Display,” and first place for “Best Video Display” in baseball.  

  • Camera operator for Cincinnati Bengals scoreboard crew winning Golden Matrix Award (2007) given by the Image Display & Entertainment Association for the best in-house video productions at arenas and stadiums. First place for “Best Overall Video Display/ Football.” 

  • Telly Award (2007), student advisor, for “Studio ‘89” seen on KET, Kentucky’s PBS affiliates.

  • Telly Award (2007), student advisor, for “NKU News” in online student program category. 

  • Nominee, camera operator, Midwest Regional Emmy (2010) for “Sporting Event/Game-Live/Unedited” Cincinnati Bengals Pre-Season Television on WKRC-TV.

  • Camera operator for Midwest Regional Emmy (2010) for “Sporting Event/Game-Live/Unedited”, High School Football Game of the Week, Fox Sports Ohio.

  • Producer, Emmy nominee (2013) from Lower Great Lakes Emmy Chapter for “News Special,” “I-69 Are We There Yet?”, WTIU-TV, PBS affiliate at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

  • Edward R. Murrow (2014) regional award from Radio Television Digital News Association for best small market radio news documentary. Field/co-producer, “Sexual Assault Among Youth”, WFIU-FM, Indiana University public radio station, Bloomington, Indiana.

  • Co-Producer, “Shadows of Innocence: Sexual Assault Among Youth” News documentary for WTIU-TV at Indiana University in Bloomington. Nominated for Emmy (2014) from Lower Great Lakes Emmy Chapter under “News Special” category.

 

  • 2013 Best in Indiana Journalism award (2014) from Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for best documentary or special. Co-producer, “Sexual Assault Among Youth”, WFIU-FM & WTIU-TV Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

  •  (2017) Advisor to Northern Kentucky University student, Tori Lentz, on her capstone documentary From Addiction to Recovery: A Community Response to the Heroin Epidemic which won an “Award of Excellence” in the student documentary competition from the Broadcast Education Association.

 

The television and radio documentaries in which I was producer (TV) and co-producer (radio) working with NKU and IU students along with the news team at WTIU and WFIU at Indiana University achieved the following awards and recognition for the production of Finding the Fix: Heroin’s Hold on the Heartland:

 

  • (2017) Regional Emmy Nomination from the Lower Great Lakes Region of the Academy for Television Arts and Sciences in the “Documentary-Topical” category.

  • (2017) The Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, first place in television “Documentary or Special” category (outside Indianapolis market) And, first place, radio “Documentary or Special”.

  • (2017) Public Radio News Directors Incorporated, nationally, second place, long documentary category (radio)

  • (2017) Regional (Region 7) Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio Television Digital News Association radio small market in the “Excellence in Innovation” category

  • (2017) Indiana Associated Press Broadcasters Association, local TV, “Best Community Impact” category, second place.

  • (2017) Indiana Associated Press Broadcasters Association, radio, first place, in “Best Public Affairs Program”

  • (2017) National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation, Research and Journalism Awards, finalist in Television and Journalism Award category (National Award/Recognition)

 

 

 

  • Crewmember (Jib, Libero, sponsorship logger), (2023) Emmy nominees, from Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Chapter in “Sports Program Live” category for both “Reds Live” and “Blue Jackets Live,” for Bally’s Sports Ohio.

  • Crewmember (PA, sponsorship logger), (2024) Emmy, from Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Chapter in the “Live Sporting Event/Season” category for Columbus BlueJackets hockey, Bally's Sports Ohio.

  • Producer, “Best of Competition” award from 2025 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts for short-form documentary in the Faculty competition, under the Adjunct, Faculty, and Staff category with production team from WTIU-TV (PBS), Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

 

ACADEMIC PANELS AND PRESENTATIONS

 

  • “To ‘B’ or Not to ‘B’: Keeping Broadcasting in the Electronic Media and Broadcasting Major at Northern Kentucky University” panel presentation at Broadcast Education Association national convention in Las Vegas, NV 2012.

  • “Summer Bootcamp: Preparing Graduate Students with Multi-Media Journalism Skills to Work in a Converged Newsroom at Indiana University” panel presentation at Broadcast Education Association national convention in Las Vegas, NV 2012.

  • “The Class Website Take 2: Easy Access to Learning Materials” panel presentation at Broadcast Education Association national convention in Las Vegas, NV 2014.

  • “From Public Access to ESPN3 and Fox Sports Ohio: A Sports Production Class Evolves with the Technology” panel presentation at Broadcast Education Association national convention in Las Vegas, NV 2019. (This presentation was added late and did not appear in the conference program.)

 

 

UNIVERSITY SERVICE ACTIVITIES

 

 

  • Committee member for hiring NKU athletics digital video content creator position (2022)

  • Committee member for hiring of EMB tenure-track position      

(2015, 2016)

  • Judge for BEA Media of Arts Festival Student Documentary Competition (2016-present)

  • Judge for BEA Media of Arts Festival Faculty Documentary Competition (2016-present)

  • Judge for Society of Professional Journalists “Mark of Excellence” student competition (2016-present)

  • Committee member for hiring of Communication Gen-Ed lecturer position (2014)

  • Committee member for hiring of chair for Communication Dept. at NKU (2012)

  • Advisor WNTV student television station (2004-2005)

  • Attendee BEA/NAB National Conferences (2005-present)

  • Member of hiring committee for EMB tenure track position (2006)

  • Creator and Advisor for NKU student chapter of the National Broadcasting Society & Alpha Epsilon Rho honor society (2007-2009)

  • Supervisor & Coordinator of ushers for National Communication Association’s national conference in Miami, FL (2003)

  • Supervised videotaping of Storytelling, Self, Society: An Interdisciplinary Conference of Storytelling Studies at Florida Atlantic University (2004)

 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS (Past and Present)

  • Society of Professional Journalists

  • Radio Television Digital News Association

  • Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

  • Broadcast Education Association

  • National Broadcasting Society

  • National Communication Association

  • Sports Video Group

 

VOLUNTEER VIDEO PRODUCTIONS

  • Producer, Greater Cincinnati SIDS Foundation informative video (late-90’s)

  • Producer, The Point/Arc of Northern Kentucky informative video (late-90’s)

  • Producer/Director, The Cincinnati Reds Community Fund TV commercial (2002)

  • Producer, Northern Kentucky University Alumni Association webisodes (2005)

  • Director, Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s telecast of (2009) volleyball state tournament and championship

  • Executive Producer, creator, “Friday Football Live” (2022-present)

  • Director/Producer, NKU basketball post-game wrap-ups of ESPN+, FanDuelTV telecasts for use on social media. (2023-present).

  • Executive Producer/advisor, video live stream of radio show “High School Football Tonight” for iHeart radio’s ESPN1530AM & FOXSports1360AM. (2024-present).

  • Director/Producer, behind-the-scenes & history documentary about NKU’s student broadcasts titled “Our Team: 30 years of Live Sports at NKU.” (2025).

 

COMPETENCY OF SOFTWARE/HARDWARE APPLICATIONS

 I have experience using the following industry creative computer software/hardware, applications and programs: 

  • Mac & Windows operating systems

-Avid Media Composer

-Avid iNews news scripting software & Rundown Creator news scripting software

-Adobe Creative Suite 

-Ross and Grass Valley video switchers, Chryon-Lyric CG, Ross Expression CG, Tri-Caster 3 play instant replay system, Dyno instant replay, Euphonix audio board, other associated live TV/multi-camera studio equipment, etc.

-Vizrt Libero

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MEDIA STORIES

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10th Annual Health Care Television & Radio Journalism Award Finalists

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NKU Students Doing Basketball Games For ESPN3, Local TV

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Two Locally-Produced Films Addressing Our Areas's Heroin Crisis

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NKY Forum sheds light on heroin epidemic

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VIDEO: Locally produced documentary explores heroin crisis

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WFIU/WTIU present documentary and discussion on Indiana's high rate of sexual assault among teens

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Students broadcast in a class of their own

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NKU Student-Produced Live Sports Broadcasts Earn "A" Grade from Horizon League

 

 

References Available Upon Request

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