WXEL-TV Nominated for 2 Emmys

BOYNTON BEACH – The nominations for the 2006 Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards have been announced and local PBS affiliate WXEL-TV 42 & DT27 has received nominations for two of these prestigious awards. The first nomination is in category 26, Nostalgia Programs and the second is in category 27, Public/Current/Community Affairs.

The Nostalgia Program entry, titled "60 Years Later: A Veteran's Visit," aired on Veteran’s Day 2005 in remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the battle. The producers were Toni Arpaia-May and Nelis Gonzalez.

In this program, a WXEL crew followed Charlie Bianchi, a Boynton Beach WWII veteran, back to the Netherlands for his "first" visit since helping to free the country from the Nazi's 60 years before. They spent a week with him and dozens of his fellow soldiers who toured the battle sights, met the people who still consider them heroes and took part in a 60th anniversary parade with thousands of soldiers from all over the world. They were in small towns and huge cities - and Charlie experienced every emotion from happiness to see the area thriving, to bitter sorrow for the fellow soldiers who died on the land he was walking on, to brotherhood with those around him he had not seen since fighting with them 60 years before.

According to producer Toni May, "The Emmy nomination for this show is so important, not because WXEL wants an award but because it will highlight this brave, unassuming Boynton Beach resident who is one of many veterans in South Florida who never ask for glory or recognition. It was a gift to be able to tell Charlie's story."

The second nomination in the Public/Current/Community Affairs category was for WXEL’s South Florida Today magazine and a show that was titled, “The Age of Aids in South Florida.” The producer was Toni Arpaia-May.

South Florida Today looked at the face of AIDS in Palm Beach County twenty-five years after the first diagnosed case. These were the real people who were both living with and educating others that the disease is still real and deadly, despite the current lack of headlines about it. Viewers met three inspiring people - Mary Fisher, an artist and AIDS survivor who made national headlines when she announced she was HIV positive during a Republican National Convention. She now lives in West Palm Beach as a successful artist and started a nonprofit AIDS charity in Africa. Sharon, a single Mom whose diagnosis of AIDS only pushed her to let others know more about the disease which she does in a very open way by teaching condom safety to both young and old in Palm Beach County. And Doug Randolph, an ex-Marine who works with the Red Cross as a volunteer going into local high school classrooms and detailing the ramifications of having unprotected sex and contracting HIV. Each of these profiles was up close, personal and honest.

"When I began working on this special and interviewing those truly on the frontlines of AIDS in our community, I was shocked at how much misinformation is still out there 25 years later,” states Toni May. “This show, through real life stories, hoped to counter that and, at the same time, painted a realistic picture that AIDS isn't just a disease that affects those in third world countries or poor neighborhoods. Several local organizations including CAP, the Red Cross and the Urban League worked with WXEL on this special and received copies of the show to distribute and teach from.”

South Florida Today is the only magazine show in the West Palm Beach/Broward market that focuses strictly on stories based in this viewing area. It has won numerous awards including several prestigious Telly Awards, an Associated Press Award for Best Public Affairs Show, and a Suncoast Regional Emmy Award in Public Affairs Programs.

WXEL-TV42 & DT27, the area’s analog and digital public television stations, signed on the air in 1982. WXEL is affiliated with PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service and airs shows serving the educational, cultural and entertainment needs of the community. WXEL produces acclaimed national and local programming such as South Florida Today, Wealth and Wisdom, and South Florida Profile. In the past year, WXEL has aired more than 1,100 hours of locally produced programming. *

WXEL is a member of the Palm Beach County Cultural Council. The Palm Beach County Cultural Council is the largest private local cultural agency in Florida. Since its formation in 1978, the Cultural Council’s mission has remained unchanged: to develop, coordinate and promote cultural activities throughout Palm Beach County, “Florida’s Cultural Capital.”

WXEL-TV42 & DT27 are a service of Barry University.

*Source: April 04/April 05 WXEL Internal Reports