By Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist Published Apr 24, 2013 at 3:11 PM

When delivering news, or describing the scene on the radio, announcers and reporters need to paint a picture with their words. For some, it’s a painstaking task to find that balance, offering the proper perspective.

For others, the art seems so effortless that no one notices. It is because it seems natural. For ages listeners in Milwaukee, and all of Wisconsin for that matter have turned to WTMJ-AM 620 for news, weather, traffic, information and sports. And their latest efforts have been recognized.

The station has won six regional Edward R. Murrow awards, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced this week. Honors came for use of sound for "The Return of the Honor Flight," and for writing on a story "Eric’s Final Confession."

The station won in the breaking news category for its coverage of the Sikh Temple shooting last summer in Oak Creek, and it got a nod for overall excellence. But it was the ongoing coverage and feature reporting of the Azana Salon shooting in Brookfield that earned a pair of honors from the industry association.

"We are very proud of this accomplishment and of our news team, and remain committed to being a trusted source of news for our audience," said Steve Wexler, Executive Vice President with Journal Communications. Wexler is with the Journal Broadcast Group and oversees radio operations of WTMJ-AM 620 and WLWK-FM 94.5 The Lake, as well as WTMJ-TV Ch. 4. 

"This honor means a lot to us, since it represents the highest standards of service to our listeners," he said.

As a colleague in the media world said recently, it is difficult to like anything out of a tragedy. But, as we look back on the world, and the events that have taken place, it is good to acknowledge the work of others making sure the story has been told.

Covering a tragic situation with a loss of life can be difficult. Emotions get buried as journalists cover a story, and do their best to find the right tone and approach to deliver information. Truth be told, some people handle these events better than others. And a Murrow Award can separate the leaders from the rest.

BOSTON COVERAGE: As we take a look back at the unfolding story of the Boston Marathon bombing, we can honestly point to a few instances of great story telling and many hours spent on air of speculation, wrong information and bad journalism.

In this age when cable news outlets fill hours of non-news with slanted political talk shows, it is difficult to separate the time when objective news coverage of a breaking event is on the screen. We’ve seen reporting that speculated the background of the people involved, posts that went viral in the digital space where every average joe in front of a computer did their best "reporting" and spreading speculation wildly.

That speculation led to news reporters by amateur professionals, and that can lead to mainstream traditional newsrooms spreading wrong information. Have an opinion of what you saw, read and heard over the past two weeks? You are not alone. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist

Media is bombarding us everywhere.

Instead of sheltering his brain from the onslaught, Steve embraces the news stories, entertainment, billboards, blogs, talk shows and everything in between.

The former writer, editor and producer in TV, radio, Web and newspapers, will be talking about what media does in our community and how it shapes who we are and what we do.