KFRU: The First Twenty-Five Years - A Historical Study of a Local Radio Station, with Pertinent References to Radio in the United States (SIGNED)

Np: University of Missouri, 1950. First Edition. INSCRIBED by the author "To R. M. Neal, From one 'author ' to another, with many thanks. Phil Berk". 4to. xii, 182pp, recto only, including bibliography and appendix. Black & white illustrations. Black cloth covered boards; gilt titles to the spine. Light wear to extremities, more so to spine ends; light staining to boards; a near fine copy. Typescript of Master of Arts Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Missouri. KFRU was founded in Bristow, Oklahoma by E.H. Rollestone, in January 1925; that fall the station was purchased by Stephens College and moved to Columbia. KFRU was the longtime flagship station of play-by-play broadcasts of Missouri Tiger football and basketball teams and until 1971 was a primary training ground for broadcast journalism students at the University. The radio station changed ownership several times over the years and continues broadcasting to this day in Columbia, MO. Over the years, KFRU has received several awards including the Peabody Award for Public Service by a Small Station, 1940; the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism; the Missouri Broadcasters Association 2015 Station of the Year award - the first ever Station of the Year award given by the MBA; and in 2015, KFRU was inducted into the Boone County Historical Society's Hall of Fame.

The author, Phil Berk, was the first anchor and news director for KOMU, the first television station to broadcast a signal in mid-Missouri on Dec. 21, 1953. KOMU offered programming from all four networks available at the time: NBC, CBS, ABC and the Dumont Network.