KVLU earns Texas Historical Commission award

KVLU 91.3, Lamar University’s Public Radio station, has received the 2022 Excellence in Media Achievement award from the Texas Historical Commission for its “Bayoulands” documentary series.

“Bayoulands” is named for the waterways that connect the Southeast Texas communities, Shannon Harris, KVLU development director, said.                “They connect all the communities of Orange, Port Arthur, Beaumont, and the surrounding area,” she said. “So, in the same way the waterways connect this area and make it unique and special, ‘Bayoulands’ takes the stories that interconnect us all and shine a light on what makes Southeast Texas, Southeast Texas.”

Harris said the show started out as a radio show that airs every fourth Sunday at 5 p.m. Portions of the show are also available to be streamed at kvlu.org under the title “Bayoulands Talks.”

“In January of 2021, two years ago, we started podcasting some of the conversations from the radio show,” Harris said. “We take the conversations that we have with individuals, sometimes it's more than one person, but (it’s) an intimate conversation that we featured on the radio show. We take those and we podcast those as individual episodes.”

THC recognizes and awards areas of the state that contribute to the preservation of Texas’ heritage. Only one winner is chosen each year and KVLU was the recipient for 2022. 

“Bayoulands” is primarily focused on history, the arts environment and community in Southeast Texas. Jason Miller, KVLU production director, who co-hosts the show with Harris, said sharing history is what earned the THC award.

“This show has the environment, but it also has our culture, architecture — has a lot of history,” Miller said. “If there was one, I think probably we'd have to say history is the predominant area.”                Miller said the idea for “Bayoulands” started eight-years ago when he and Harris realized that KVLU did not have local documentary content. The show began airing in 2016.

“We had music shows hosted by locals but not something like this,” he said.

The season seven premiere of “Bayoulands” will air, April 23 at 5 p.m. The podcast versions are available on NPR One, Google podcasts, Apple podcasts and Spotify.