Award Recipients

RTNDF First Amendment Award Recipients 2006

GWEN IFILL

Gwen Ifill is moderator and managing editor of Washington Week, the longest running public affairs program on public television, and senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

For Washington Week, Ifill oversees a public television tradition launched in 1967—a report on the key news events of the previous week. As managing editor she selects stories, chooses the panel of Washington-based correspondents and moderates the Q&A format. Washington Week is distinguished as the first political news show to air each week. Ifill has also moderated debates in national elections, most recently the 2004 vice presidential election. On The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS’s nightly newscast, Ifill is a familiar presence as both a correspondent and a moderator.

Prior to joining PBS, Gwen Ifill served as chief congressional and political correspondent at NBC News for five years. While at NBC she covered the premier political stories affecting the nation for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Today, Meet the Press and MSNBC.

A print journalist before she became a fixture on broadcast news, Ifill was a reporter at The New York Times, where she covered the White House and politics, The Washington Post, where her focus was national and local affairs, The Baltimore Evening Sun and The Boston Herald American.

Ifill serves on the boards of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Museum of Television and Radio and the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.

WILLIAM WHEATLEY

William Wheatley, as executive vice president for NBC News, was responsible for domestic and international news gathering, hard-news programming, relationships with international broadcasters and news agencies and print partnerships. In addition, he was involved in matters of standards and practices and is a co-author of NBC News Policies and Guidelines.

In June 2005, Wheatley retired after 30 years with NBC News. As an NBC News editor, producer and executive, Wheatley was deeply involved in NBC’s coverage of the major news events and trends of the last three decades. Wheatley served as executive producer of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw from 1985 to 1990. During that period, Nightly News was the recipient of numerous duPont-Columbia, Emmy and Overseas Press Club awards. Before becoming executive producer, Wheatley was the Nightly News senior producer for six years.

Wheatley was closely associated with NBC’s coverage of national politics. He also served as the executive producer of a number of NBC News documentaries and specials.

He interrupted his career at NBC News twice to study at Harvard University as a Nieman Fellow and as a Shorenstein Fellow. He is a member of the advisory committees of the Nieman Foundation, the Knight International Fellowships and the College of Communication at Boston University.

Wheatley first joined NBC News in January 1975 as an assignment editor. He had previously been news director and an assistant news director at WBZTV in Boston, where he began his journalism career in 1967 as a management trainee.

BELO CORPORATION - WWL-TV

BELO CORPORATION is one of the nation’s largest media companies, with a diversified group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media assets. Belo owns 19 television stations, six of which are in the 155 largest U.S. broadcast markets. Belo-owned WWL-TV is the CBS-television affiliate serving New Orleans, with its primary studios and offices located in the city’s historic French Quarter.

WWL-TV was the only New Orleans station to stay on the air throughout Hurricane Katrina. The station began its 24-hour continuous coverage of Hurricane Katrina on Saturday, August 27, from its New Orleans studio, later moving operations to the journalism school at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

After Katrina, Belo Corp. donated the first $200,000 to the WWL-TV Employee Relief Fund for employees of WWL-TV and made an immediate payment of $1,000 to each employee. All donations collected for the fund went directly to WWL employees, with funds allocated to employees in an inverse relationship to compensation levels. Robert W. Decherd, Belo’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “The entire Belo organization is extraordinarily proud of the WWL team for overcoming tremendous obstacles to broadcast continuously what is arguably some of the finest disaster news coverage in the history of television journalism.”

CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.-
WBUV-FM, WKNN-FM, WMJY-FM, WQYZ-FM, KHEV-FM,
WNOE-FM, WODT-AM, WQUE-FM, WYLD-AM/FM

CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC. is a leading global media and entertainment company specializing in entertainment and information services for local communities. Its businesses include radio, outdoor displays and television stations. Clear Channel Radio’s 1,200 radio stations are focused on serving local communities across the United States with more than 110 million listeners each week.

Clear Channel’s Gulf Coast stations are being recognized for providing residents with up-to-date information during the region’s state of emergency— often living the story as they reported on it. After Katrina hit, Clear Channel was one of the earliest responders to devote resources in support of American Red Cross hurricane efforts. Clear Channel radio stations across the country aired public service announcements directing listeners to www.StormAid.com, the company’s campaign to raise funds to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. The website also provided National Hurricane Center advisories for the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and a list of the Clear Channel stations that were airing shelter locations and directions, providing coverage, collecting donations for the American Red Cross and holding collection drives.

Since the public largely relied on battery-powered radios as their only source of communication, Clear Channel’s team of stations in the Gulf Coast region proved to be an indispensable resource for vital news and information to victims of Hurricane Katrina. In fact, during the aftermath of the storm, the radio groups serving New Orleans—Clear Channel Communications and Entercom Communications—came together to form the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans, a joint effort to provide the region with the most complete, reliable and consistent radio broadcast of emergency recovery and relief information.

EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS- WVUE-TV

EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS is an Indianapolis-based diversified media firm with radio broadcasting, television broadcasting and magazine publishing operations. Emmis has created one of the most unique work environments in the communications industry. Its culture carries at its heart the belief that, in order to succeed, a company must take risks, treat its people well and give them the tools they need to win. Emmis believes its culture breeds creativity and innovation, by encouraging employees at every level to think out of the box, experiment and contribute.

Emmis-owned WVUE-TV is the New Orleans Fox affiliate. The station was forced off the air when Katrina hit, but quickly built a temporary facility in Mobile, AL. A private plane took supplies to sister station WALA-TV in Mobile the Wednesday after Hurricane Katrina hit, where a number of WVUE employees had evacuated. Emmis also arranged transportation for staffers to get to families in other parts of the country, and employees had access to a private website for support and information.

Emmis president Jeff Smulyan’s family foundation pledged to match the first $25,000 in donations to the Emmis Relief Fund. While the station was off the air, WVUE volunteered its TV anchors to help Clear Channel’s radio stations with their coverage, proving that this reporting wasn’t always about ratings—it was about helping the community and working as a team of journalists to disseminate critical information during a time of crisis.

ENTERCOM COMMUNICATIONS - WWL-AM

ENTERCOM owns and operates a nationwide portfolio of radio stations and is the fourth largest radio broadcasting company in the United States.

WWL-AM began broadcasting in 1922 in New Orleans, and is currently home to a talk-radio format, with a lineup including syndicated host Rush Limbaugh, as well as local sports and news.

When Katrina hit Entercom-owned WWL dropped its usual fare and switched to round-the-clock hurricane coverage. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, residents often could not get through to 911 and opted to call WWL instead. Program hosts to become emergency advisors, helping panicked people plot escape routes and alerting authorities to their locations.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, WWL was, for a time, one of the only radio stations in the area remaining on the air. Its emergency coverage was simulcast on the frequencies of numerous other radio stations. WWL provided a lifeline to those trapped by the storm, those who evacuated and family and friends desperate for information about loved ones—providing unprecedented 24-hour coverage for 71 consecutive days. The station received national media attention for staying on the air throughout the storm and airing strongly worded statements from New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin.

Entercom joined forces with Clear Channel Communications in the aftermath of Katrina to create the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans. The team programming consisted of continuous news, information and coverage of local relief efforts, live feeds from street reporters and interviews and updates from local officials and relief coordinators. By combining resources, the companies were able to enhance their collective service and support to the people of New Orleans as they struggled to cope with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

HEARST-ARGYLE TELEVISION, INC.- WDSU-TV

HEARST-ARGYLE TELEVISION, INC. owns 25 television stations and manages an additional three television and two radio stations in geographically diverse U.S. markets. The company’s television stations reach approximately 18 percent of U.S. TV households, making it one of the largest U.S. television station groups. Hearst-Argyle’s stations are recognized news leaders that have been honored with numerous awards, including RTNDA’s prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award. WDSU-TV, the New Orleans NBC affiliate, signed on the air in December 1948 as the first television station in Louisiana.

On Sunday, August 28, 2005, shortly after 5 p.m., WDSU announced their plans for broadcast due to Hurricane Katrina. They went off the air from their New Orleans studios around 9:30 p.m. Sunday evening, letting their staff at the station take as much cover as they could. Shortly thereafter, broadcasts started to originate from WAPT-TV in Jackson, MS (a Hearst- Argyle sister station), out of harm’s way and with some WDSU anchors and the station’s chief meteorologist.

WDSU also posted a Katrina blog on its website, with up-to-date information, links to find loved ones, resources for residents (including road closures, job postings, relief hotlines, counseling hotlines and rescue and relief organizations) and other helpful information. “We continue to learn from this experience,” said Candy Altman, Hearst-Argyle vice president, News. “But perhaps the greatest overall lesson is this: Food, water, shelter, power, the love of family and friends and the importance of our work as journalists will never be taken for granted again.”

RAYCOM MEDIA, INC. - WLOX-TV

RAYCOM MEDIA, INC. was created in 1996 with the purchase of 12 television stations, two radio stations and a sports marketing, production, events management and distribution company. Shortly after this first acquisition, Raycom Media acquired two other companies and began an unheard of growth in the media business. Raycom Media’s latest acquisition was the 15 network-affiliated television stations formerly owned by Liberty Corporation. Raycom Media now stretches from Syracuse, NY to Honolulu, HI with businesses in 23 states and over 4,000 employees. The television stations cover 12.7 percent of the U.S. television households.

WLOX-TV is the ABC Network affiliate in Biloxi, MS, covering the Mississippi Gulf Coast and South Mississippi. During Hurricane Katrina, WLOX stayed on the air even though its newsroom roof was ripped off in the ferocity of the storm. The station sits just one block from the Gulf. Newscasts continued in a hallway, with a card table as an anchor desk and a computer monitor to track the hurricane. “When 20 percent of your staff loses everything they own, it becomes an emotional issue, not only for those affected, but for the entire newsroom and station,” said Dave Vincent, WLOX news director.

In fact, the station brought in counselors to help staff cope with the stresses and difficulties associated with the experience. Still, staff pressed on to inform their viewers about what was happening along the coast. WLOX is being honored along with other stations in the Gulf region for its important role in keeping its listeners informed when they needed it most and in the direst of situations.

TRIBUNE BROADCASTING - WGNO-TV

TRIBUNE BROADCASTING owns and operates 26 television stations concentrated in major markets and Super station WGN on national cable. The group’s combined reach is more than 80 percent of U.S. television households. WGNO-TV is the Tribune-owned ABC affiliate for the greater New Orleans area. WGNO has won regional Edward R. Murrow Awards in addition to many other honors.

As Hurricane Katrina approached in August 2005, WGNO’s operations were moved to fellow ABC affiliate WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, LA. For a time, their nightly newscasts were broadcast from various locations throughout the New Orleans area because the main studio was closed due to storm damage and flooding. The studio has since reopened. Tribune Broadcasting established the Tribune WGNO/WNOL Emergency Fund for the benefit of WGNO/WNOL employees. The company pledged to match the first $100,000 in donations to the fund on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Accustomed to reporting the news, with the flooding and storm damage to their studios, WGNO became the news. In spite of personal loss and emotional distress, WGNO’s news team remained dedicated to getting out the vital information their community needed to know— once again proving that when catastrophe strikes America’s communities, citizens can rely on their local journalists to bring them the story and information they need to weather the storm.