Loren Tobia Leadership Award
The Radio Television Digital News Association presents the Loren Tobia Leadership Award annually to a journalist who exemplifies true leadership within their company or organization during a given year. The honor highlights someone who represents one of RTDNA's core values - leadership - and is recognized at all three signature events including the annual RTDNA conference, the First Amendment Awards and the Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala.
2025 Recipient: Jeff Schlesser
RTDNA is honored to announce Jeff Schlesser, news director at WWSB in Florida, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of RTDNA’s Loren Tobia Leadership Award.
Schlesser joined WWSB-TV, Gray Media’s ABC affiliate serving Manatee and Sarasota counties on Florida’s Suncoast, in September 2020. He remains committed to growing the ABC7, First Alert Weather and MySuncoast.com brands across all broadcast, digital and social platforms.
Since arriving at WWSB, Schlesser and his team have worked behind the scenes to build structure that supports the station’s 54 hours per week of locally produced programming. They have also focused on recruiting and developing a team of journalists dedicated to covering the southern portion of the Tampa Bay media market. Together, they’ve updated the station’s look, reporting and producing style.
Under Schlesser’s leadership, the newsroom has added newscasts in several dayparts, including Good Morning Suncoast Weekends, an hourlong 10 a.m. weekday newscast, and a half-hour weekday newscast at 3:30 p.m. The team also relaunched ABC7 Sports and evolved the ABC7 First Alert Traffic brand. The newsroom is now focused on breaking stories on the station’s website and using tools like the ABC7 Newsroom Live Desk to connect with viewers in new, innovative ways.
“For decades, Loren Tobia led and mentored journalists in an exemplary fashion. To receive a leadership award in his name means you have distinguished yourself in the same manner. What a great honor,” said RTDNA President and CEO Dan Shelley.
2025 Loren Tobia Leadership Award Application