For more information, please contact:
Joette Richards, (262)894-2224
admin@milwaukeepressclub.org
www.milwaukeepressclub.org
2015 Gridiron Awards Dinner also honors
Ann Compton, Former ABC News White House Correspondent,
Ricardo Diaz, Executive Director of United Community Center, and
Linda Mellowes, Community Volunteer and Fundraiser
MILWAUKEE, WI—March 25, 2015 The Milwaukee Press Club today announced the preliminary results of its 85th Annual MPC Awards for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism competition.
Finalists are presented by contest category, and listed alphabetically by organization, either media company or university. Click here for contest results.
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 15th Gridiron Awards Dinner at the InterContinental Hotel in Milwaukee.
This year’s contest garnered more than 500 entries from throughout Wisconsin in professional and collegiate divisions. The competition was judged by 25 professional journalists and press clubs from throughout the U.S., including Alaska, Florida, Idaho and Michigan and in Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Diego and Syracuse.
Other honors at this year’s Gridiron Awards Dinner will be:
The Milwaukee Press Club’s Sacred Cat Award, recognizing professional achievements on the national level, will go to former ABC News White House Correspondent and Hall of Fame journalist Ann Compton. Compton had a unique perch from which to watch history unfold. As ABC News White House Correspondent, she covered administrations, campaigns, turmoil and the ebb/flow of America’s political leanings from the end of Watergate to the events that led to the rise of ISIS. And, she did it all while blazing new journalistic trails for women in being the first woman to cover the Oval Office for a network on a full-time basis, and one of the youngest reporters ever to get such an assignment. Compton and her production staff won Emmy and Peabody honors as well as the Silver Baton/Alfred duPont Columbia University Award. Compton was inducted into the Journalist Hall of Fame in 2000 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2005.
Ricardo Diaz is executive director of the United Community Center and will receive the MPC’s Headliner Award. Diaz is a committed advocate for education and the Latino community, Diaz is in his second stint as leader of the UCC. He led the organization in the 1980s, and then worked for the City of Milwaukee, serving as Commissioner of City Development and Executive Director of the Milwaukee Housing Authority. He returned to the top job at the UCC in 2003.
Linda Mellowes is a community volunteer and fundraiser and will also receive the MPC’s Headliner Awards. Mellowes is the person other community leaders often turn to when they need to raise money for a good cause or to help an important non-profit agency. A Feb. 2012 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about Mellowes called her “one of the more important leaders in Milwaukee’s nonprofit community, a person who brings together organizations, causes and people.
The Headliner Awards are presented annually to those who are making a positive difference in Wisconsin.
For additional information or to register for the Gridiron Awards Dinner please visit our website at www.milwaukeepressclub.org or contact the Joette Richards at Joette@milwaukeepressclub.org or 262-894-2224.
