Released: April 28, 2017
Longtime newspaper family and radio station honored by Huck Boyd Institute and Center
Community journalism awards given April 20
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- John G. Montgomery of Junction City, Kansas and Greg Buser and Robert Hilton of KNZA radio in Hiawatha, Kansas are the 2017 winners of the Huck Boyd Community Journalism Leader of the Year awards.
John G. Montgomery, retired publisher of the Junction City Daily Union, is the winner of the 2017 Huck Boyd Leader of the Year award in Community Newspapers. Greg Buser and Robert Hilton of KNZA Inc. are the winners of the 2017 Huck Boyd Leader of the Year award in Community Radio. The Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development and the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas State University made the selections and presented the awards on April 20 in Manhattan.
For four generations, John Montgomery and his family have been leaders in the newspaper industry and in public service in Junction City and beyond.
“The local newspaper is such an important part of a community,” said Gloria Freeland, director of the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media in Kansas State University’s School of Journalism. “The Montgomery family has been an integral part of Kansas newspapers for generations, and their legacy will live on.”
Greg Buser and recently retired Robert Hilton are owners of KNZA FM radio and a network of other stations serving the northeast Kansas, southeast Nebraska, and northwest Missouri region.
“Together, Greg Buser and Robert Hilton have made KNZA a dominant force in a market with numerous competing signals, including stations in St. Joseph and Kansas City,” said K-State journalism professor Steve Smethers. “KNZA became successful because Greg and Robert never lost sight of the importance of good local service, a tradition that continues to this day.”
The Huck Boyd Institute honors Leaders of the Year annually in several categories from among those featured on its weekly Kansas Profile radio program and column during the previous 12 months. Kansas Profile is distributed by the K-State Radio Network and K-State Research and Extension News to radio stations and newspapers state-wide and beyond. For more information, see www.kansasprofile.com.
The Huck Boyd Foundation of Phillipsburg, Kansas supports two projects at K-State: the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development in partnership with K-State Research and Extension and the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media in the A. Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
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K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well‑being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan.
K-State Research and Extension
www.ksre.ksu.edu
For more information:
Ron Wilson - 785-532-7690 or rwilson@ksu.edu
