Burbank Channel takes home 2 Golden Mike Awards
Burbank’s public information office continues to earn respect and recognition from its peers for the informative videos it produces each year.
The Burbank Channel, the city’s government TV channel, took home two Golden Mike Awards during the 68th annual ceremony sponsored by the Radio & Television News Assn. of Southern California, which was held on Jan. 27 in Universal City.
The public information office won “Best News Public Affairs Program” for the fall 2016 episode of its quarterly magazine-style show, “Burbank on Demand.”
This makes it the third time the city has won an award in this category since its debut in April 2013, said Jonathan Jones, a spokesman for Burbank.
Some of the topics covered in the 29-minute episode included Walk to School Day, high-tech traffic solutions along Glenoaks Boulevard and the Burbank Library’s Burbank in Focus program.
The other award Burbank received was for “Best News Videography” for then Mayor Jess Talamantes’ 2016 State of the City video.
Though the public information office has won eight Golden Mikes over the past four years, Jones and Walter Lutz, the senior video production associate for the Burbank Channel, both said the work they do is designed to educate and inform the public about new happenings, issues and events occurring in the city.
“The awards are nice, but we can take them or leave them,” Jones said. “The most rewarding thing is the comments we get from the citizens when they appreciate or don’t like what we do. We want to hear from them and know what they want to know more about.”
Lutz, who has been with the Burbank Channel for over 20 years, said winning the awards helps drive attention to the government TV channel, which can be accessed through the city’s website, its YouTube page and on cable.
He added that it is always gratifying to see that the work done by himself and his colleagues continues to be noticed by other TV and radio news outlets in the region.
“You’re being honored by people who are journalism professionals, who have worked in the industry for years,” Lutz said. “It’s fantastic to be recognized by this group, whose sole purpose is to recognize journalism around the world and the Southern California market.”
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
