Milwaukee Press Club: Announces winners of the 82nd Annual MPC Awards for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism Contest

For more information, please contact:

Milwaukee Press Club

Joette Richards, (262) 894-2224

milwaukeepressclub@gmail.com

http://www.milwaukeepressclub.org

2012 Gridiron Awards Dinner also honors Juan William of Fox News, Sue Black, Milwaukee County Parks and John Cary, MACC Fund

MILWAUKEE, WI—April 9, 2012 The Milwaukee Press Club today announced the preliminary results of its 82nd Annual MPC Awards for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism competition.

New this year: finalists will not know whether they have won a gold, silver or bronze award until the final results are announced and the winners are honored at the club’s May 18th Gridiron Awards Dinner at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

In today’s release, individual finalists are presented by contest category, and listed alphabetically by organization, either media company or university. Click here for contest results.

The contest garnered more than 500 entries from throughout Wisconsin in professional and collegiate divisions a 10 percent increase over the previous year. This is also the first year entries were submitted digitally.

The competition was judged by 25 professional journalist from press clubs throughout the U.S., including Arizona, Florida, Idaho and Pennsylvania and in Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Diego, Syracuse and Cleveland.

Other honors at this year’s Gridiron event will be:

Veteran political commentator Juan Williams of Fox News will receive the Press Club’s Sacred Cat Award recognizing professional achievements on the national level.

Sue Black, Milwaukee County director of Parks, Recreation and Culture and John Cary, executive director of the MACC Fund, Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, Inc. will each receive the MPC’s Headliner Award. The Headliner Awards are bestowed annually to newsmakers who are making a positive contribution to the community.

Williams, a long-time journalist for National Public Radio, Fox News and The Washington Post made headlines himself in October 2010 when, after more than a decade as a frequent contributor and senior news analyst for NPR, he was fired for comments he made in his role as a news analyst for Fox News.

NPR said William’s statement, that in the wake of 9/11, “When I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous,” was “inconsistent” with its “editorial standards and practices and undermined his [William’s] credibility.” Williams, the best-selling author of a book on civil rights, “Eyes on the Prize,” and an Emmy award winning commentator, said he was fired for “speaking the truth.”

William’s latest book, “Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate,” grew out of his high-profile firing. In it, Williams writes, “the voice of honest debate in America has been muzzled…[and ] the quality of our political institutions has been diminished.” Williams goes on to analyze recent events in that light, including “the 2010 national healthcare debate and 2011 Wiscosnsin public-sector union debacle,” notes “Publishers Weekly.”

For additional information or to register for the Gridiron Awards Dinner please visit our website at http://www.milwaukeepressclub.org or contact the Joette Richards at milwaukeepress@gmail.com or 262-894-2224.