CINCINNATI – Nearly 200 Greater Cincinnati journalists gathered downtown at The Phoenix Friday, Sept. 28 to honor the work of their colleagues during the past year.

During the two-hour event, more than 100 journalists received awards for excellence. Awards were given in 75 categories judged this summer by the Knoxville Society of Professional Journalists. The categories spanned print, broadcast television and radio. They included topics from breaking news to page design, from investigative reporting to opinion writing, and from news photography to Web site design.

WCPO-TV news anchor Carol Williams was emcee of the banquet, which also marked the 40th anniversary of the Cincinnati Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Cincy SPJ President Hagit Limor delivered a speech about the past – and future – of the chapter. A silent auction at the event raised nearly $1,000 for the chapter’s scholarship fund, which provides scholarships annually to Greater Cincinnati journalism students.

Three Cincinnati journalists and two broadcasting legends were inducted into the Cincinnati Journalism Hall of Fame.

Wayne Perry was an editor at The Cincinnati Post for 24 years before his sudden death in 2006 at the age of 54. He worked as suburban editor, news editor, managing editor and features editor, and is remembered as a mentor and a reporter with the highest journalistic standards.

Award-winning photojournalist Tom Hubbard was a photographer for The Cincinnati Enquirer for 10 years and covered the U.S. Senate Watergate hearings on President Nixon. He was a professor of photojournalism at Ohio State University for 15 years and his photographs have appeared in national and international publications.

Ron Fischer has worked as a photojournalist and videographer for WCPO-TV for more than 41 years, and continues to inspire new generations of young reporters with his talent, leadership and character.

Powel and Lewis Crosley founded one of the first commercial radio stations in 1921, and later founded WLW Radio – known in the 1930’s as “the nation's station.” They were pioneers of the broadcast industry and radio journalism, and their work influences the industry to this day.

The Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalists also bestowed its highest honors upon four Cincinnati Enquirer reporters.

Eileen Kelley, Sheila McLaughlin and Margaret McGurk received the Gerald White Memorial Prize for their team coverage of Marcus Fiesel, a 3-year-old disabled boy bound and left for dead in a closet last August by his foster parents, who were convicted in connection with his death earlier this year. Their reporting not only exposed the Carrolls’ crimes, but spurred Ohio to re-evaluate its foster care system.

Sharon Coolidge received the Camilla Warrick Award for Community Service for her series, “Lead’s Dangerous Legacy.” After a two-year battle for public records, Coolidge exposed the health risks posed to Cincinnati residents by toxic levels of lead in their homes – all because the city neglected its duty to force property owners to fix the problems. Her series forced the city to take long-overdue action to correct the problem.

-By Amanda Van Benschoten
2007 Cincy SPJ Banquet Chairwoman