88.9 KETR-FM, the public radio station licensed to East Texas A&M University, received multiple honors at the 2026 Texas Broadcast News Awards, presented April 11 at the Westin Austin at the Domain.
Competing in the Radio–All Other Markets category, KETR earned three awards, including recognition for Political Issues Coverage, Investigative Report, and Sports Story/Series.
The Political Issues Coverage award recognized KETR’s reporting on the closure of local emergency rooms and the financial factors underlying those decisions. The Investigative Report award was also tied to that coverage, which included research supported by public records requests and in-depth analysis of hospital funding mechanisms. In Sports Story/Series, KETR was honored for coverage explaining East Texas A&M University’s transition to NCAA Division I athletics.
In addition to its three awards, KETR was named a finalist for the prestigious Carole Kneeland Award, which recognizes outstanding investigative journalism and is not awarded annually. KETR was also a finalist for Overall Texas Broadcast Excellence in the non-major market radio category.
The Texas Broadcast News Awards are presented annually to recognize excellence in broadcast journalism across the state, with stations grouped into divisions based on their status as television or radio broadcast, and also market size.
KETR’s recognition comes despite the station operating without a dedicated news staff through most of 2025. The award-winning work was produced alongside the station’s daily responsibilities in programming, operations, and community service.
“If this is what KETR can produce under current conditions, the potential for growth is significant,” said Jerrod Knight, General Manager of KETR. “Adding dedicated newsroom capacity is going to allow us to expand coverage, deepen reporting, and better serve Northeast Texas with the kind of journalism these awards are meant to recognize.”
KETR-FM, now in its 51st year on the air, serves Northeast Texas with a mix of local, state, and national news, weather coverage, sports broadcasts, and music programming.