photo by Chloe Jakiela
Tyler Polk, a junior journalism major, just received the 2016 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System’s College Radio Award for his radio drama “Larceny.” This is the 6th time WPPJ has won an award from IBS.

A class assignment turned into a trip to New York and shiny golden microphone award for “Best Radio Drama”.

Point Park’s Tyler Polk, a junior journalism major, took home the award in the 2016 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System’s (IBS) College Radio Awards.

“I legitimately just looked up to the sky and just went ‘yes,” Polk said. 

Polk’s now award-winning radio drama, “Larceny,” is based on the first scene from the video game “Grand Theft Auto,” with an M. Night Shyamalan-esque twist at the end.

“It’s great for the station and Ty; it has extended our six year consecutive win record at the IBS awards,” said WPPJ’s assistant general manager Trevor Sheets. 

According to Sheets it is also the first win for “Best Radio Drama” in WPPJ’s history.

“It creates a larger array of things we’ve been recognized for. Even as a small university we are regularly recognized for putting out good content,” Sheets added. 

Like the game, Polk’s production focused on a group of street racers planning to rob a bank. After fleshing through some of the details, the group, in a constant bicker over the plan, enters the bank.  

As the group enters the bank, background noises like gunshots and cries from frightened bank-goers bring the action to life. 

Polk enlisted the help of fellow Point Park students to bring his characters to life. Paul Fields, Josh Hutton, Tara Jackson, David Coleman and Julian Ransome, along with Polk himself, voice the characters. 

Even with help of his talented friends, Polk remained uncertain about the production. 

“Before I got the award and everything, I was sort of doubting my work,” Polk said. “How would they choose this to even get nominated?”

Whatever doubts Polk may have had, after winning the award, there was nothing but dumbstruck delight.  

“Now that I’ve won, I sort of look at it like, ‘how did this win?’” Polk said. 

Some of Polk’s former doubts and current disbelief in the success of the drama stem from the fact that “Larceny” was born out of a one-minute class assignment and was the first time Polk had ever produced a radio piece longer than a minute.

“I’ve done promos for WPPJ, and my first two were awful…granted they were produced by another person, but from here on out, I’ve done my own production,” Polk said. 

“It was my first time using extended production on things that were past a minute or so,” Polk added. “It was the ultimate validation for all the hard work that I put in that semester, trying to learn Adobe, trying to become the best producer I could be.”

Even when expressing that feeling of validation, Polk insists that he was pulling for his friends. 

“I felt good about my prospects of winning, but I was pulling for everyone else really,” Polk said. 

“Whenever I was up there, I just felt like if I win, it’s awesome, but if I’m just a finalist, then I’m happy to be here.” 

However, the award did have a considerable impact on Polk. 

“I think it has made me appreciate the fact that if you try your best to do good content and put a good effort into it, at the very least, you get something out of it.” 

Thanks to the success of “Larceny,” Polk said he plans on producing more radio dramas in the future. 

“Hopefully this will equate to more great work in the future because I plan on making more radio dramas and applying for the awards again.”