Clark, Winegardner, Patrick named to Regional Media Hall of Fame

(From Southern News Service)

The Regional Media Hall of Fame at Missouri Southern State University will honor three media professionals during the annual awards dinner at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in Billingsly Student Center’s Connor Ballroom.

Presented by the Department of Communication, the Hall of Fame awards honor media professionals who have made an impact regionally throughout their careers.

The 2014 recipients are Robert Clark, Nikki Patrick and David Winegardner.

Clark received his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and graduated with a

degree in drama and speech before enlisting in the United States Air Force. He later received his master’s in communication with an emphasis in broadcasting. He took a broadcasting position at Missouri Southern in 1984 and founded MSTV that same year. In 1985, he worked on the proposal and license application for KXMS-FM. With the help of a handful of students, he put KXMS on the air in 1986. He retired from the university in 2008.

A native of Pittsburg, Kan., Patrick joined the staff of The Pittsburg Morning Sun in January of 1967. She worked part time, handling obituaries, rewrites and proofreading while attending Pittsburg State University. She went full time at the newspaper after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1968. She went on to earn her master’s the following year. She became the Morning Sun’s family living editor in 1978, and has served as the paper’s arts and entertainment correspondent, covering productions at every level.

Winegardner graduated from the University of Kansas in 1970 and obtained a job as a news anchor for WREN radio in Topeka, Kan., that same year. He worked for stations in Kansas and Texas before joining KBTN Radio in Neosho as general manager in 1974. He served as president and general manager from 1984 to 2000. He worked as manager of Petracom of Joplin from 2000-03, and as director of sales and marketing for Crowder Industries before becoming vice president and the director of sales and marketing for Community Bank and Trust in 2004. He retired in 2012.

The Regional Media Hall of Fame was created in 2006. Honorees receive a crystal trophy and are featured in a display located in the lobby of the broadcast facilities at Missouri Southern.