On the latest episode of the INBA Podcast, Margaret Larkin talks to Mark Maxwell, who covers Illinois and Missouri politics for KSDK-TV in St. Louis. He previously was Capitol Bureau Chief at WCIA-TV in Springfield. He talks about his career in TV news, how he develops sources, covering politicians and news gathering, challenges, what he’s learned, and more.

The INBA handed out awards in about a dozen categories in each of four divisions, small- and large-market TV and small- and large-market radio.

Here are the final results. Look for more photos of award winners soon on the INBA Facebook page.

SMALL MARKET TV

• Best Station: First place: WAND, Decatur; Second: WHBF, Quad Cities
• Paul Davis Best Newscast: 1: WCIA, Champaign “Mahomet Murders”; 2: WCIA “Sean Grayson Verdict”
• Best Morning Newscast: 1: WQAD, Quad Cities “GMQC Election Day”; 2: 25 News, Peoria “Pumpkin Fest”
• Best Digital Presence: 1: WHBF; 2: Eyewitness News (WTVO, Rockford)
• Best Reporter: 1: Deron Molen, WAND; 2. Sam Matheny, 25 News
• Breaking News: 1: WIFR: Town of Nora Evacuated; 2: WIFR: Severe Storm Cancels Brat Days
• Investigative Report: 1: Lizzie Seils, Kyle Vincent, Nick Cheesman, 25 News, Peoria; 2: WGEM: Deputy DUI
• Writing: 1: Deron Molen, WAND; 2: Caroline Reese, WAND
• Sports Reporting: 1: Kyle Ainsworth, WGEM; 2: Patrick Cunningham, WMBD
• Podcasting: Behind the Numbers, WGEM; CI Sports Zone, WMBD
• Best Weather Operation: 1: KWQC First Alert Weather; 2: WCIA Weather Team
• Use of Videography: 1: Deron Molen, Erika Ahola, Jake Bedell, 2: WAND; Kyle Vincent, 25 News

SMALL MARKET RADIO

• Best Station: 1: Illinois Public Media, Urbana; 2: WNIJ, DeKalb
• Best Newscast: 1: WGLT Staff, Normal; 2: WTAX News Team, Springfield
• Best Digital Presence: 1: WGLT; 2: 102.3 The Coyote Rochelle Broadcasting
• Best Reporter: 1: Dave Dahl, WTAX; 2: Ethan Kruger, WSPY, Plano
• Breaking News: 1: Farm Fields on Fire, Illinois Public Media; 2: Madigan Sentencing, WTAX
• Investigative Report: 1: Life Under Oak Wood, WGLT; 2: When Orders of Protection Don’t Protect, WGLT
• Political Reporting: 1: Eleven People, Five Seats, Illinois Public Media; 2: A Normal $28,000 Campaign Contribution, WGLT
• Writing: 1: Yvonne Boose, WNIJ; 2: Dave Dahl, WTAX
• Sports Reporting: 1: Peter Medlin, WNIJ; 2: Lauren Wisdom & Micah Schnyders, WSPY
• Podcasting: 1: What We Brought, Illinois Public Media; 2: Welcome to Forgottonia, Tri States Public Radio Host Rich Egger
• Use of Sound: Jane Carlson, Tri States Public Radio; Rich Egger, Tri States Public Radio 

LARGE MARKET TV

• Best Station: 1: ABC7 Chicago, 2: KSDK, St. Louis
• Paul Davis Best Newscast: 1: ABC7 Chicago: The Election of Pope Leo; 2: ABC7 Chicago: DNC Finale
• Best Morning Newscast: 1: KSDK
• Best Digital Presence: 1: ABC7 Chicago
• Best Reporter: 1: PJ Randhawa, NBC5 Chicago; 2: Justina Coronel, KSDK
• Breaking News: 1: KSDK Explosion; 2: KSDK Garfield’s Survival
• Investigative Report: 1: Mark Maxwell, ADA Lawsuits; 2: Mark Maxwell, Condemned: Corrupt Building Inspector Fired
• Political Reporting: 1: Mark Maxwell, At the Margins of Power, 2: KSDK; Craig Wall, ABC7
• Writing: 1 and 2: Mark Maxwell, KSDK
• Sports Reporting: 1: Frank Cusumano and Randy Schwentker, KSDK
• Best Weather Operation: 1: ABC7 Chicago Staff; 2: KTVI-TV Weather Department, St. Louis
• Podcasting: 1: KSDK: And There You Have It
• Use of Videography: 1: Brian Ledford, KTVI; 2: Randy Schwentker, Frank Cusumano, KSDK

LARGE MARKET RADIO

• Best Station: 1: WBBM, Chicago; St. Louis Public Radio
• Best Newscast: 1: WBBM, Cisco Cotto, Mai Martinez, Cameron Costanzo; St. Louis Public Radio
• Best Digital Presence: 1: St. Louis Public Radio
• Best Reporter: 1: Terry Keshner, WBBM; 2: Will Bauer, St. Louis Public Radio
• Breaking News: 1: A Chicago Pope, WBBM; 2: Mike Madigan Convicted, WGN Radio
• Investigative Report: 1: Brian Munoz, Chad Davis, Kavahn Mansouri, St. Louis Public Radio
• Political Reporting: 1: Geoff Buchholz, WBBM; 2: Will Bauer, St. Louis Public Radio
• Sports Reporting: 1: Rick Gregg, WBBM
• Writing: 1: Jeremy Goodwin, St. Louis Public Radio
• Podcasting: 1: We Live Here, St. Louis Public Radio; 2: Interrupting the Next Mass Shooting, WGN Radio
• Use of Sound: Marissanne Lewis-Thompson, St. Louis Public Radio; Jeremy Goodwin, St. Louis Public Radio

ISU’s radio and TV stations won a total of nine awards, while EIU students claimed seven. Included in those seven were three individual awards for Olivia Bennett, who won for best news reporting, sports reporting and TV photography. She also won one of the INBA’s five college scholarships that were handed out April 18.

Here is the complete list of winners:

RADIO COMPETITION

Outstanding Hard Radio Program

FIRST PLACE

• The Big Beautiful Bill
  • Ally Cooper, Colleen Holden, Bella Marello, Illinois State University

Outstanding Soft Radio Program

FIRST PLACE

• The RedZone: ISU Football National Championship Interview with Aondover Tarhule
  • Liam Lyons, Connor Allyn, Jaden Cohn, ISU 

Outstanding Radio Newscast

FIRST PLACE

• Ally Cooper, ISU

Outstanding Radio News Reporting

FIRST PLACE

• Jonathan Dumois, NIU

SECOND PLACE

• Linder Sports Complex Renovations
  • Andrew Spaid, Eastern Illinois University

Outstanding Radio Sports Reporting

FIRST PLACE

• Jaden Cohn, ISU

Outstanding Use of Sound

FIRST PLACE

• History Has Its Eyes On Them: ISU Students March for a Safer Future and Justice for the Past
  • Colleen Holden, ISU  

TELEVISION COMPETITION

Outstanding Hard Television Program

FIRST PLACE

• Illinois In Session: Look ahead at 2026 Senate Race
  • Nathan Gonzalez, Mary Piacente and Piper Pascarella, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

SECOND PLACE

• Groovin Jaguar
  • GovState News Staff, Governors State University

Outstanding Soft Television Program

FIRST PLACE

• The Quad: Lights, Camera, Action – The Quad Takes the Stage
  • Aaron Anastos, Mary Piacente, Adrien Reetz, UIUC

SECOND PLACE

• Good Afternoon BloNo – Feb. 25, 2026
  • Aliah Mendoza, Aie Allen and Zakk Clark, ISU

Outstanding Sports Television Program

FIRST PLACE

• SportsZone – March 30, 2026
  • Nicholas Thompson, Zach Zanardo, Victor Todorov, ISU

SECOND PLACE

• Saluki Sportsview, Fall 2025, Ep. 2
  • Students of JRNL 445, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Outstanding Television Newscast

FIRST PLACE

• WEIU-TV News Watch
  • News Watch Staff, EIU

SECOND PLACE

• TV-10 News at Noon, March 23, 2026
  • Vivienne Hughes, Aliah Mendoza, ISU

Outstanding Television News Reporting

FIRST PLACE

• Olivia Bennett, EIU

SECOND PLACE

• Matt Williamson, EIU

Outstanding Television Sports Reporting

FIRST PLACE

• Olivia Bennett, EIU

SECOND PLACE

• Madalyne Korzeniewski, ISU

Outstanding Television News Photography

FIRST PLACE

• Olivia Bennett, EIU

SECOND PLACE

• Matt Williamson, EIU

View more SINBA Award winner photos on the INBA Facebook page soon.

The winners were selected by a panel of INBA members who evaluated about 20 scholarship applications.

The INBA has been supporting college students pursuing degrees in broadcast journalism since 1963. During that time, including the $12,500 in awards handed out this year, the INBA has awarded 223 scholarships worth about $225,000.

Here are this year’s winners:

OLIVIA BENNETT of Charleston is a junior at Eastern Illinois University majoring in broadcast journalism. She has worked as a Gray Television fellow for WOIO-TV in Cleveland; a producer, anchor and investigative reporter for TruBlu Crime Streaming; and managing editor, anchor and reporter for WEIU-TV News Watch. With this year’s award, Olivia is now a three-time INBA scholarship winner. Olivia took home INBA Fred “Fritz” Sorenson Scholarship. Sorenson was a longtime reporter and anchor for WKRS radio in Waukegan and WCIA-TV in Champaign.

JOSHUA HIGHTOWER of Miami Gardens, Florida, is a graduate student in the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois Springfield. He is currently working as a reporting intern at WCIA-TV’s Capitol Bureau. He also was a reporter at WMNF 88.5 in Tampa while he attended the University of South Florida. Joshua is the winner of the INBA Bill Miller Scholarship, named after the longtime Springfield radio journalist who directed the PAR program from 1974 to 1993.

COLLEEN HOLDEN of Chicago will graduate next month from Illinois State University with a degree in journalism. She currently serves as news and sports operation director for WZND, the campus radio station, and a reporter, newscaster and “All Things Considered” host for WGLT. She previously worked as a reporter, producer and news director at WZND. Colleen was awarded the INBA Larry Wilson Scholarship, the news director at WSMI in Litchfield from 1970 to 1985.

ALIAH MENDOZA of Aurora is a mass media major at Illinois State University. She will graduate in May. Aliah has held several positions at ISU’s TV-10, including anchor, producer, director, social media manager, technical director, audio operator, camera/video playback/CG operator, and “Good Afternoon Blono” host. She also was a undergraduate teaching assistant for a TV production course. She was awarded the INBA Mary McAndrew Scholarship, named after the 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.

ANDREW SPAID of Lake in the Hills will graduate this spring from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in TV and video production. He has worked as a sports and news anchor, producer and sports director for WEIU-TV and was an on-air DJ for Hit Mix 88.9 WEIU. He also is a host and producer of the Anytime Sports Podcast, worked on the live sports production crew for ESPN+ and was a freelance camera operator for WQAD-TV. Andrew is the winner of the INBA Don Brown Scholarship. Don is the namesake for the INBA’s first-ever scholarship, given in 1963. He worked for radio stations in Iowa and taught at the Universities of Iowa, Illinois, and Arizona State and was instrumental in forming the INBA in 1955.

In addition to their scholarship awards, each of the five winners received an all-expenses-paid trip to the Best of Broadcast Awards event.

Three other students were named finalists for scholarship awards and were offered free tickets to the awards event. The finalists were Allison Cooper from ISU, Ciara Folkerts from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Matthew Williamson from EIU.

The Scholarship Selection Committee included:

• Devin Brooks, reporter/anchor, WQAD-TV, Quad Cities, a multi-time INBA scholarship winner himself and INBA board member.
• Jenna Dooley, news director, WNIJ in DeKalb, and INBA past president
• Rachel Lippmann, justice reporter, St. Louis Public Radio, and INBA past president
• Emily Manley, former Missouri capitol bureau reporter for Nexstar and former INBA vice president

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.

The last time former INBA president Steve Scott was interviewed for the INBA Podcast (five years ago!) was when he was at WCBS in New York. After WCBS stopped operations, he became a news anchor at KCBS radio. He gives us an update about being an alum of San Jose State, working in San Francisco, covering news, doing PA announcing for the Golden State Warriors and other NBA teams, the importance of joining an organization, and more. 

The INBA is debuting a new podcast series, INBA Podcast Bite, a short-form audio feature designed to help broadcast journalists generate ideas and do their jobs better.

Our inaugural episode runs for 14 minutes and features INBA board member and WNIJ reporter Yvonne Boose talking with Ryan Denham, content director for WGLT. Ryan served on a task force that helped the Illinois Supreme Court design new rules for Extended Media Coverage, which allows reporters to bring cameras and recording devices into courtrooms. EMC is now an option in all 102 counties. Ryan walks us through some tips to effectively use EMC to cover trials and other court proceedings in your county.

The Bite format adds to the INBA’s longstanding podcast feed, which has been filled for several years by INBA member Margaret Larkin, who conducts long-form interviews with Illinois-connected journalists about their careers.

Our goal for the Bite format is to pass around the hosting duties to an array of INBA members to offer tips about covering popular issues in the news, share guidance on emerging trends and technology in the industry and highlight good work happening around the state. The other goal is to keep the episodes short — 15- to 20-minute bites of information you can consume quickly and move on with your day.

Have an idea for an episode? Want to host an episode? Contact INBA President Jason Piscia at jason.piscia@inba.net or text him at 217-414-1033.

The Illinois Press Foundation is ready to help news organizations through the process. 
They’ve provided this information: 

The application process for local journalism tax credits from the State of Illinois in 2026 is scheduled to open on Sunday, Feb. 1. 

Through a grant from The Joyce Foundation, the Illinois Press Foundation continues to coordinate programming and access to help your news organization through this process – from the application to claiming the tax credit. 

Because these credits are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, we urge news organizations to apply as quickly as possible. If you have any questions throughout your application process, the programming made possible through The Joyce Foundation gives you free access to an accountant and attorney, both of whom were very helpful to many of you during the 2025 processes. They are: 

• Larry Johnson, senior manager at accounting services firm Sikich in Springfield. He can be reached at Larry.Johnson@sikich.com. 

• Brendan Healey, media law attorney at Baron Harris Healey in Chicago. He can be reached at bhealey@bhhlawfirm.com. 

You also can reach out to me at jrogers@illinoispress.org with any questions you might have. 

In preparation for the Feb. 1 application process opening, Larry and Brendan have compiled a list of helpful tips. Those are listed below, followed by some additional information and FAQs that were put together by our partners at Rebuild Local News. I will be sending regular reminders over the next few weeks, because we want to see all credits claimed this year. (While all $15,000 credits for retained journalists were claimed in 2025, not all $10,000 credits for new hires were claimed.) 

Eligibility 

• You must have at least one employee (even if you are the employee) 

• Print, digital, and broadcast (radio and television) are all eligible. 

• For-profits and non-profits are eligible. 

• Public companies and non-public companies are eligible. 

• Companies based in Illinois and companies that are not based in Illinois are eligible. 

• You get money based on “qualified journalists.” A qualified journalist is not required to live in Illinois but must live within 50 miles of her coverage area and cover local Illinois news. 

• Make sure you meet the publication frequency (this can be difficult for digital publications, which are required to publish at least one community-oriented piece per week for the prior 12 months) 

• Another tricky criterion for digital-only publications is that 33% of your audience must be in Illinois. 

• If you’re a non-profit, you can qualify, but you must state in your IRS filings that your mission is the coverage of state or local news. That does not have to be your only mission, but it must be part of it. 

• The new journalist credit is based on a net increase in qualified journalists from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026. If you employed three qualified journalists on January 1, 2025, and have four as of January 1, 2026, you qualify for one new journalist credit. 

Timetable 

• Get your application in on February 1 or as close to February 1 as possible. 

• Use the most current set of internal financial statements when preparing the application. 

• The credit shall be applied to the first reporting period after the credit certificate is issued.  If the amount of credit exceeds the liability for the reporting period, the excess credit shall be refunded to the taxpayer 

Materials & Information 

Have the following information and materials ready for the application 

• Beneficial ownership information 

• Qualified journalist information 

• Gross receipts for the prior taxable year as reflected in cash flow statement. These are not required to be audited. 

• Revenue earned for the previous taxable year as reflected in income statement. These are not required to be audited. 

• Total payments received from PACs, Section 527 entities, and 501(c)(3) and 501(c)6) organizations (if any) 

• Payments for political advertising in lowest unit windows (for broadcast entities) 

• Cash flow statement 

• Image of publicly posted beneficial ownership disclosure or list of board of directors 

You may also need the following: 

• IRS Form 990 (for non-profits) 

• USPS periodical permit (for print publications) 

• Images of local news stories 

• Analytics sufficient to meet 33% Illinois digital viewers (for digital-only publications) 

Also, here are two spreadsheets that were required to be completed by 2025 applicants. These may also be helpful as you prepare for this year’s process: 

Beneficial Ownership Form 

Qualified Journalist Form 

Important reminder: Read the frequently asked questions on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity website before starting the application. 

Also, as was mentioned previously, here is information that was compiled and shared by Rebuild Local News that you should find helpful: 

Here’s what you need to know: 

• Eligibility: For-profit or nonprofit local news outlets producing original journalism and employing W-2 newsroom staff 

• Credits available: 

• $15,000 per retained journalist 

• $10,000 per net new journalist hired (Jan. 1, 2025 – Jan. 1, 2026) 

• Up to $150,000 per newsroom; $250,000 cap for chains 

• Why timing matters: Funding is capped statewide and awarded first-come, first-served 

• Applications open: February 1, 2026 

To help you prepare, we’ve put together a complete, easy-to-use resource package, including: 

• An eligibility checklist 

• A tax credit calculator 

• A step-by-step application guide 

• Two completed application examples 

Visit our website to learn more and get a head start.

In addition to directing the Public Affairs Reporting graduate program at the University of Illinois Springfield, I also teach a couple of other courses in the UIS Communication Department. One of them is Media Law. During the first week of class this month, I walked students through a discussion of First Amendment issues in the news.

There was no shortage of material. In just the past week:

• FBI agents searched the home of a Washington Post reporter, seizing her electronic devices as part of an investigation into a government contractor’s handling of classified information. The New York Times described the search as “exceedingly rare,” even for a case involving sensitive material. A judge this week ordered that government cannot examine the journalist’s devices until a case about the search of her home is resolved.

And over the past few months:

• Several major news organizations surrendered their Pentagon press credentials rather than agree to a new Defense Department policy discouraging reporters from seeking unapproved information.
• The Trump administration reduced funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS stations nationwide.
• The Associated Press saw its White House access restricted after declining to use the administration’s preferred terminology for the Gulf of Mexico.
• A comment by Jimmy Kimmel referencing Charlie Kirk and MAGA supporters prompted FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to warn that media companies could face consequences unless they “change conduct.” Disney/ABC suspended Kimmel the next day, raising concerns about government pressure on speech.
• Reporters continue to face public hostility simply for doing the work of holding officials accountable.

None of these incidents has been ruled a First Amendment violation by the courts. At least not yet. But they are deeply frustrating, even when the headlines originate hundreds of miles away on the East Coast.

So what can journalists in Illinois do about this? My suggestion: Channel that frustration into purposeful, local action. There are many opportunities in our own communities to assert our First Amendment rights and carry out our watchdog role.

A few ideas:

• File a Freedom of Information Act request for records you don’t typically inspect, including travel and expense reports, emails and texts among public officials about major initiatives, salary data and electronic form submissions. Government collects and generates far more public information than it voluntarily releases. Ask for it.
• Check in on public bodies that rarely see a reporter. These could include small-town village or school boards, zoning boards, fire protection district boards and other special districts. Watch how the tone of a meeting changes when someone with a camera, microphone and notebook walks in.
• Take advantage of Illinois’ expanded camera access in courtrooms. As of Jan. 1, media outlets can request to bring cameras into courtrooms in all 102 counties. For the 40 counties in western and southeastern Illinois where this became available just a few weeks ago, it’s an especially important moment to document proceedings the public rarely sees.

Illinois journalists don’t need to wait for a national crisis to defend the First Amendment. The most meaningful protection of press freedom often happens close to home through persistent records requests, consistent presence and a willingness to shine light in places it’s least expected.

At a time when the work of journalists is being challenged in so many ways, reaffirming our commitment to transparency and accountability in our own communities is not just an act of resistance. It’s an act of service.

After more than 40 years, Craig Dellimore retired this summer from WBBM Newsradio, where he was Political Editor and a reporter in Chicago and the Illinois state legislature. He started in New York at Columbia University, then worked at WNYC and WCBS. Before he moved to Chicago, he worked at the Associated Press in Washington, D.C. This is from a livestream that Craig did with Margaret Larkin. Margaret also interviewed Craig in 2018, when he shared various stories and challenges he encountered.

News reporters in every Illinois county can now request permission to bring cameras and other recording equipment into their local courtrooms, thanks to a revised “Extended Media Coverage” policy that took effect Jan. 1.

The Illinois Supreme Court first launched its Cameras in the Courts initiative as a pilot program in 2012. Over the past decade, 62 of the state’s 102 counties opted in, allowing journalists to ask to record, photograph or livestream court proceedings — subject to approval from the presiding judge.

The newly updated policy expands that access to the remaining 40 counties (colored in orange on the map) beginning this month.

The revisions were developed by the Illinois Judicial Conference’s Public Education and Engagement Task Force, which gathered input from judges, trial court administrators, circuit clerks, attorneys, journalists, and other court personnel.

Ryan Denham, content director at WGLT (NPR) in Normal and a member of the task force, said the changes are designed to modernize the program and strengthen public confidence in the judicial system.

“This new policy contains several changes that will tangibly improve working conditions for media in courts across the state, while also helping to bolster public trust in the courts by making them more transparent,” said Denham, who also chairs the Cameras and Microphones in the Courts Committee for the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. “The changes reflect just how much technology and media practices have evolved since 2012.”

Other updates to the policy include:

• Shorter notice window: Journalists may now submit EMC requests at least seven days before a proceeding, down from the previous 14-day requirement. Judges may grant exceptions for hearings scheduled on short notice, such as initial criminal appearances.
• Required explanations for denials: If a judge denies a request for extended media coverage, they must now provide a reason.
• Clearer definition of “news media”: The policy now clarifies which organizations and professionals qualify to file EMC requests, including newspapers, periodicals, news services, radio and television outlets, community antenna television services, and individuals or companies that professionally produce news content for the public.

To streamline the process statewide, the task force also created standardized, fillable EMC request forms, now available on the Illinois Courts website.