We are thrilled to announce that WMNF 88.5 FM has been recognized in Creative Loafing’s 2023 Best of the Bay Awards, both from readers and staff. The station has received multiple accolades, including receiving runner-up for Best Radio Station! This recognition is a testament to the immense dedication of our talented team of volunteers and staff, who work tirelessly to provide you with the best music and public affairs programming. We are grateful to our team, our listeners, and our supporters for your continued support and look forward to continuing to serve our community with great music, news, and culture. Thank you, Creative Loafing, all our volunteer programmers and staff, and mostly to all of you for these awards! We really couldn’t have done it without every one of you.
BEST RADIO STATION (RUNNER-UP) – READER’S PICK
BEST AURAL ART MAGAZINE: ART IN YOUR EAR WITH JOELLEN SCHILKE – STAFF PICK
“Arts coverage across the Bay area, even at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, has taken a hit, but one person who’s still joyfully driving A&E news is JoEllen Schilke, host of “Art In Your Ear,” which airs every Friday on community radio station WMNF Tampa 88.5-FM. Week in and week out, Schilke brings in movers and shakers from every corner of the local arts scene and invites them to talk about not just what they’ve been up to, but what’s troubling them, too. And when other Bay area newsrooms can’t step up (like during this recent calamity in Hillsborough County where some commissioners can’t seem to understand the function of arts funding), Schilke invites members of the WMNF news team to break down what’s happening. If CL could turn the show into a print page, our paper would be better for it. @AiYEWMNF on Facebook”
–Creative Loafing
BEST TRIBUTE TO HIP HOP – STAFF PICK
“Hip-hop turned 50 years old this year, and there wasn’t a better place to celebrate than inside the home of Tampa Bay’s community radio station, WMNF Tampa 88.5-FM. The folklore around late WMNF host Kenny K always involves some kind of story about how on Saturday nights, WMNF’s old station parking lot would be packed to the gills with people trying to hangout while Kenny—who died in 1994 following health complications—played what was, at the time, the only hip-hop programming in Tampa Bay. For its 50th anniversary of hip-hop celebration last month, the station’s lot was beyond capacity once again, as DJs, rappers and community members moved in, out, and about the building during a six-hour block of special programming dedicated to what is perhaps the country’s greatest contribution to music. The spirit of Kenny K was alive and well on that night, and let’s hope the station doesn’t wait another 50 years to throw another party like that.” wmnf.org
– Creative Loafing
BEST RIGHTING A WRONG: BOB SEYMOUR’S JAZZ IN THE NIGHT – STAFF PICK
“Bob Seymour, a godfather of Tampa’s jazz scene, retired from his post as jazz music director at WUSF 89.7-FM in 2016, and it took some bullshit to get him back on the airwaves. Late last year, after WUSF canceled its beloved “All Night Jazz” programming after 56 years, Seymour was named as the host of a new jazz program that does what WUSF refused to: lift up a local scene that’s rife with talent, but not always the beneficiary of widespread support. Welcome back, Bob.” wmnf.org
– Creative Loafing
BEST NATIVE SON: MARIO NUNEZ – STAFF PICK
“Mario Núñez is the kind of guy who can tell you where the West Tampa Sandwich Shop of Carrollwood is (Cafe Caribe), and he can wax nostalgic about nearly every era of Tampa lore without scratching his head. He’ll also argue with you about the phrase “Tampa Bay” and fight like hell to redesign Tampa’s municipal flag (sorry, Mario, I like it!). Núñez’s greatest strength, however, is how he can make you fall in love with the 813 via his television program, “The Tampa Natives Show,” which airs on Tampa Bay Arts & Education Network, and then ruffle feathers on the “Down and Dirty” Friday morning WMNF public affairs program he co-hosts with former Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder and local politico Jason Marlow. At 65-years old, Núñez has seemingly lived enough life for three Tampeños, and the city would be in great hands if there he had a protege or three waiting in the wings.” tampanativesshow.com – Creative Loafing
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