INBA’s Crystal Mic Awards will be presented to Small and Large Market Radio and Television professionals, for the great work they’ve been doing during some very challenging times.

Students who are wrapping up the academic year will be honored with SINBA Awards for Radio and Television, and INBA Scholarships, given in memory of some of our earlier members.

Of course the evening will start with time for cocktails and networking, and we’ll continue those interactions during dinner. We’re excited to bring students and professionals together in one celebration.

The awards were handed out on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, during the INBA’s Fall Convention in East Peoria.

SMALL MARKET TV

Best Station:
First place: WREX
Paul Davis Best Newscast:
First place: WTVO Staff
Second place: WREX 13 News Team
Best Digital Presence:
First place: WREX
Best Reporter:
First place: Lizzie Seils, 25 News
Second place: William Ingalls, WREX
Breaking News:
First place: WREX
Investigative Report:
First place: Lizzie Seils, 25 News
Second place: William Ingalls, WREX
Writing:
First place: Deron Molen, WAND
Second place: Jenna Webster, WQAD
Sports Reporting:
First place: Blake Hornstein, WHBF
Second place: Patrick Cunningham, WMBD
Best Weather Operation:
First place: WIFR, Mark Henderson, Aaron Wilson and DJ Baker
Second place: WREX Weather Team
Use of Videography:
First place: Kyle Vincent, 25 News

SMALL MARKET RADIO

Best Station:
First place: WNIJ
Second place: WCBU
Best Newscast:
First place: WNIJ Staff
Second place: WTAX News Team
Best Digital Presence:
First place: WGLT
Second place: WCBU
Best Reporter:
First place: Jane Carlson, Tri States Public Radio
Second place: Lyndsay Jones, WGLT Radio
Investigative Report:
First place: Jane Carlson, Tri States Public Radio
Second place: Farrah Anderson, Illinois Public Media
Writing:
First place: Peter Medlin, WNIJ
Second place: Lauren Warnecke, WGLT
Sports Reporting:
First place: Charlie Schlenker, WGLT
Podcasting:
First place: Welcome to Forgottonia, Tri States Public Radio Host: Rich Egger
Second place: Dialogue, Illinois Public Media Host: Kennedy Vincent
Use of Sound:
First place: Tri States Public Radio Jane Carlson “Piersen Strong”
Second place: Tri States Public Radio Jane Carlson “Book Brigade”

LARGE MARKET TV

Best Station:
First place: ABC7 Chicago
Second place: KSDK
Paul Davis Best Newscast:
First place: KSDK
Second place: ABC7 Chicago
Best Digital Presence:
First place: ABC7 Chicago
Second place: KSDK, Anne Stegen
Best Reporter:
First place: Mike Bush, KSDK
Second place: Justina Coronel, KSDK
Breaking News:
First place: Eric Horng and Tre Ward, ABC7 Chicago
Second place: Eric Horng and Cate Cauguiran, ABC7 Chicago
Investigative Report:
First place: Chuck Goudie ABC7 Chicago
Second place: Jenna Barnes and Kevin Doellman, WGN-TV
Writing:
First place: Mike Bush, KSDK
Second place: Eric Horng, ABC7 Chicago
Sports Reporting:
First place: Mike Bush and Tom Stasiak, KSDK
Best Weather Operation:
First place: KTVI-TV Weather Department
Second place: ABC7 Chicago Staff
Use of Videography:
First place: Brian Ledford, KTVI

LARGE MARKET RADIO

Best Station:
First place: WBBM
Second place: St. Louis Public Radio
Best Newscast:
First place: Abby Llorico, St. Louis Public Radio
Best Digital Presence:
First place: St. Louis Public Radio
Second place: WBBM
Best Reporter:
First place: Nancy Harty, WBBM
Second place: Jason Rosenbaum, St. Louis Public Radio
Breaking News:
First place: Nancy Harty, WBBM
Investigative Report:
First place: Jason Rosenbaum, St. Louis Public Radio
Second place: Kavahn Mansouri, Kate Grumke, St. Louis Public Radio
Writing:
First place: Lisa Fielding, WBBM
Second place: Marissanne Lewis-Thompson, St. Louis Public Radio
Podcasting:
First place: Danny Wicentowski, St. Louis Public Radio
Second place: Elaine Cha, Ulaa Kuziez; St. Louis Public Radio
Use of Sound:
First place: Carolina Garibay, WBBM
Second place: Jeremy Goodwin, St. Louis Public Radio

The Illinois News Broadcasters Association is proud to announce its 2024 college scholarship recipients. The students will receive their awards on Saturday, April 20, during the INBA Spring Convention in Rock Island.

The INBA has been supporting college students pursuing degrees in broadcast journalism since 1963. During that time, including the $13,000 in awards being handed out this year, the INBA has awarded about 213 scholarships worth nearly $202,000.

Here are this year’s winners:

HARRISON BELSANTI of Highland Park is a broadcast journalism major at Eastern Illinois University, graduating in just a few weeks. He has worked at WEIU-TV, the campus’ PBS affiliate, as a multimedia journalist, assistant producer and many other positions since January 2022. He’s also a repeat winner, having taken home an INBA scholarship at last spring’s convention. After graduation, Harrison will begin work as a multiskilled journalist at WQAD-TV, the ABC affiliate in the Quad Cities.

Harrison is being awarded the INBA’s Fred “Fritz” Sorenson Scholarship. Sorenson was a longtime reporter and anchor for WKRS radio in Waukegan and WCIA-TV in Champaign.

OLIVIA BENNETT is a freshman at Eastern Illinois University majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in criminology. She works as a general assignment reporter and anchor for WEIU-TV and as a radio personality for WEIU Hit Mix 88.9 FM. Olivia is the first-ever recipient of the INBA Molly Hall Scholarship. Friends and family of Molly donated funds to establish this award after she passed away a year ago. Molly was an EIU graduate who spent 14 years in broadcast journalism starting at WTAX radio in Springfield, and then working as a reporter, anchor and Statehouse Capitol Bureau Chief for WCIA-TV. She went on to become executive director of the Energy Education Council.

MAGGEE BLEYER from Mount Carmel is completing her junior year as a journalism major at Illinois State University. She is heavily involved in student media, including being an assignment editor, anchor, producer and reporter at TV-10; a DJ at WZND; and a news and feature reporter and editorial board member for the Vidette. She was recently named the Vidette’s editor-in-chief for the upcoming year. Maggee also was an intern and digital media reporter last spring and summer for WEHT-WTVW in Evansville, Indiana. She also worked in student media extensively while she attended Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel during her freshman and sophomore years.

Maggee is being awarded the INBA Mary McAndrew Scholarship. Mary was a longtime journalist who spent 18 years with NBC News and also worked for the Associated Press and United Press International in New York and WBBM radio, WGCI radio and USA Today in Chicago.

LAUREN BRENNECKE of O’Fallon, Missouri, is a media studies major who will graduate next month from Webster University near St. Louis. She is currently a newsroom intern for St. Louis Public Radio, and she recently signed on to work there full time for an additional six months. Lauren also has worked for the University Podcast Network, editing and writing shows.

Lauren is being awarded the INBA Ed Brown Scholarship. Ed was a professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and was a longtime executive secretary for the INBA.

DREW COFFEY of Mattoon is graduating in May from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in television and video production. He has worked at WEIU-TV for three years in a variety of roles, including reporter, anchor, writer, videographer, editor, studio camera operator, and graphics operator. He also works at Eastern’s on-campus newspaper, The Daily Eastern News. Last summer, he interned at WCIA-TV in Champaign.

Drew is being awarded the INBA Larry Wilson Scholarship. Larry was a longtime INBA member who served as news director of WSMI in Litchfield in the 1970s and ‘80s. He was an organizer and longtime supporter of the former INBA Road Shows and was a big advocate for involving students in INBA activities.

Thank you to the INBA Scholarship Selection Committee, which interviewed scholarship finalists and selected the winners. They are:

Devin Brooks, reporter/anchor, WQAD-TV, Quad Cities, a multi-time INBA scholarship winner himself.

Ryan Burrow, news director, WGN Radio, Chicago

Rachel Lippmann, justice reporter, St. Louis Public Radio

Emily Manley, the Missouri capitol bureau reporter for Nexstar

The INBA Scholarship program is supported through the INBA Foundation, which would welcome your help to continue supporting college broadcasting students. If you’re interested in making a gift to support that effort, make an online donation now.

Congratulations to the student broadcasting students who took home Student INBA awards on April 20 during the INBA’s Spring Convention in Rock Island.

This year’s contest covered material broadcasted from May 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024, and included categories in both television and radio and is open to journalistic work completed by students at a college, university, commercial radio/television station, or cable outlet.

Here’s the list of winners:

RADIO COMPETITION

Outstanding Hard Radio Program

• First place: Bird’s-I-View: The Case of Barton McNeil, WZND (Illinois State University), Benjamin Howell, Gavin Broderick, Colleen Holden 

Outstanding Soft Radio Program

• First place: The RedZone, WZND (ISU), Kaylee Sugimoto, RedZone Staff

Outstanding Radio Newscast

• First place: Lauren Leisure, WZND (ISU)

Outstanding Radio News Reporting

• First place: John Wills, Eastern Illinois University
• Second place: Cole Longcor, University of Illinois Springfield

Outstanding Radio Sports Reporting

• First place: Kaylee Sugimoto, WZND (ISU)
• Second place: Braden Fogerson, WZND (ISU)

Outstanding Radio Sports Play-by-Play

• First place: Sam Corbett, Andy Jachim, Sam Fretto, North Central College 
• Second place: Mike Fornelli, WZND (ISU)

Outstanding Use of Sound

• First place: Molly Sweeney, WVIK
• Second place: Benjamin Howell, WZND

TELEVISION COMPETITION

Outstanding Hard Television Program

• First place: WIU NABJ Cultural Competency Panel, Western Illinois University NABJ Team 

Outstanding Soft Television Program

• First place: Good Afternoon Blono, TV-10 (ISU)
• Second place: Fall Jaguar, Governors State University

Outstanding Sports Television Program

• First place: Saluki Sports View, Southern Illinois University
• Second place: WIU Sports Broadcasting Club – Spring 2024, Western Illinois University

Outstanding Television Newscast

• First place: News Watch, WEIU
• Second place: Courier TV News, College of DuPage 

Outstanding Television News Reporting

• First place: Olivia Bennett, WEIU
• Second place: Matt Williamson, WEIU

Outstanding Television Sports Reporting

• First place: Jenna Minor, EIU
• Second place: SIU Volleyball, SIU

Outstanding Television News Photography

• First place: Jac Vonachen, ISU