WILL Press Room
WILL Hunger Programs Win Awards
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Illinois Public Media’s programming about community hunger has won two Silver Awards of Distinction in the international 2012 Communicator Awards. It also was named a Bronze Winner in the 2012 Telly Awards.
A day of programming about hunger on WILL-TV, WILL-AM and the Web in November won the in the Communicator Awards “Integrated Campaign-Social Responsibility” category. Illinois Public Media’s Celeste Quinn, David Inge, Harriet Williamson, Sean Powers, Henry Radcliffe, Tracy Cain, Crystal Kang, Mary Barrineau, Rita Schulte, Mike Thomas, Kimberlie Kranich, Jack Brighton and Dan Davis worked on the hunger project.
Illinois Public Media’s video about the Wesley Evening Food Pantry in Urbana won in the “Program/News-Social Responsibility” category. Kimberlie Kranich produced the video as part of the hunger project, and Henry Radcliffe was the videographer and editor. Watch the video.
In the Telly Awards, Illinois Public Media's video story about the Central Illinois Foodbank's mobile food pantry won in the "TV Programs, Segments-Social Responsibility" category. Kranich was producer and Radcliffe the videographer/editor for the video. Watch the video.
The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program in communications and marketing, recognizing the best in print, Web, video and mobile. More than 6,000 entries were judged by the International Academy of Visual Arts. The Telly Awards honor outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films.
WILL Wins 6 AP Awards
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
WILL’s reporters and contributors won six awards in the downstate radio division of the 2011 Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association Journalism Excellence Contest, including best investigative series, best documentary series and best sports story.
WILL awards include:
BEST INVESTIGATIVE SERIES: WILL-AM, Champaign, "Cherry Orchard Landlords to Stand Trial for Code Violations," Sean Powers, Pam G. Dempsey of CU-CitizenAccess.
BEST SPORTS: WILL-AM, Champaign, "Racing Tradition Kept Alive in Farmer City," Sean Powers.
BEST SPOT NEWS: 2nd Place: WILL-AM, Champaign, "Video of Champaign Arrest Leaked Online," Sean Powers.
BEST SERIES/DOCUMENTARY: WILL-AM, Champaign, "Life on Route 150," Jeff Bossert, Sean Powers, Tom Rogers, Dave Dickey, Jim Meadows.
BEST LIGHT FEATURE: 2nd Place: WILL-AM, Champaign, "DIY Smokerpalooza," Lisa Bralts, Dave Dickey.
BEST HARD NEWS FEATURE: 2nd Place: WILL-AM, Champaign, "Audio Recording in Public Places Can Be Serious Crime in Illinois," Sean Powers.
The awards will be presented on Saturday, April 28, at the Illinois News Broadcasters Association convention in Macomb, Ill.
WILL’s Talk Show Staff Members to Retire
Monday, April 02, 2012
David Inge, longtime host of WILL-AM’s morning talk show Focus, has announced his plans to retire from the University of Illinois and WILL Radio before July 1, as have the station’s Afternoon Magazine host Celeste Quinn and Focus producer Harriet Williamson.
The loss of three key public affairs staff members in a short time period, partly because of upcoming changes to the U of I retirement system, will be a challenge, said Illinois Public Media general manager Mark Leonard. However, WILL remains committed to interactive local talk radio programming as a way to engage listeners around issues and ideas, he said.
“David’s insatiable curiosity, patience and grace will be impossible to replace,” Leonard said. “His daily program is a safe haven for complex ideas and discussion, moderated with the deft touch that is David’s signature.
“We are planning to carry on the strong tradition that he, Celeste and Harriet have established over the last 30 years,” Leonard said. “We’ll be hiring people for several positions to help us do that.”
Inge, who will retire June 30, estimates he has conducted more than 12,000 Focus interviews in his 29 ½ years as the program’s host. He started working at WILL Radio as a classical music announcer, then became a reporter, and became one of the rotating hosts when Focus first went on the air. He also hosted WILL-TV’s public affairs program Talking Point from 1992 until it ended in 2001, and numerous WILL-TV specials, including recent programs on community hunger and housing.
Inge said that after 35 years in radio, he’s ready to explore using his skills in other ways. “I’ve had this great opportunity to do a program and make it mine,” he said. “I hope I’ve made a contribution to life in the community. I’d like to find other ways to contribute.”
Quinn, who is married to Inge, began working at WILL in 1980. She was a prize-winning reporter covering police, courts and the city councils before hosting The Afternoon Magazine beginning in 1993. She also hosts Focus when regular guests on dog training, computers and nutrition appear, and for the past year, has been editor of WILLConnect, Illinois Public Media’s community engagement website. She will retire April 30.
“Celeste’s passion about individuals, their lives and their experiences has translated into great stories and interviews on The Afternoon Magazine and our listeners will miss her, as will we,” said Kimberlie Kranich, director of community content and engagement for Illinois Public Media.
Quinn said WILL will always be part of her life, but from now on she’ll be a member of the radio, TV, online audience. “WILL is like a home to me―my co-workers are like family,” she said. “It was here that I met the love of my life, David Inge.” The couple will celebrate 24 years of marriage this year.
After starting as a volunteer, Williamson joined the staff of WILL in 1996 after careers as a medical librarian and nurse. She researches and develops topics, and schedules guests for the program. “She’s been an integral part of the Focus program,” said Inge. “People don’t realize how important the producer is for shaping the show.” With 40 slots a month to fill, it is a big job, he said. Williamson has increased the number of high-profile writers on the show and has strengthened contacts on the University of Illinois campus, said Inge, who has worked with seven different producers during the time he has been Focus host.
Williamson said she’s been a huge radio fan since she was a kid staying up late to listen to music and talk programs. “The opportunity to work at WILL was spectacular for someone who has been passionate about radio all her life,” Williamson said. “Working with David Inge and Celeste Quinn has been a joy.”
Quinn said the decision to retire was difficult for all three of them. “Especially in this time of transition for the talk programming, we hope people will continue to enthusiastically support Illinois Public Media,” she said.
NPR’s Andrea Seabrook to Speak at WILL
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Get the inside scoop about Congress from NPR congressional correspondent Andrea Seabrook, who will be at WILL on Wednesday, April 11. During an event from 6-7:30 pm in the WILL-TV studio, you’ll hear an insider’s perspective on political events and their larger implications. She’ll read between the lines of everyday news stories, offering both a depth of knowledge and entertaining commentary.
Tickets are $25 per person. Call 217-333-7300 to reserve your seat. Seating is limited so don’t delay.
While in Champaign-Urbana, Seabrook will also appear as a guest on WILL-AM’s Focus at 10:06 am on Thursday, April 12.
In her reports for NPR, Seabrook delivers critical, insightful reporting, explaining the daily complexities of legislation and the longer trends in American politics. She and NPR’s Peter Overby won the prestigious Joan S. Barone award for their “Dollar Politics” series, which exposed the intense lobbying effort around President Obama’s Health Care legislation. Another collaboration with Overby on the flow of money during the 2010 midterm elections, was widely lauded, drawing a huge audience spike on npr.org.
She took a year-and-a-half break, in 2006 and 2007, to host the weekend edition of NPR’s newsmagazine, All Things Considered. She has also anchored NPR’s live coverage of national party conventions and election night in 2006 and 2008, and is a frequent guest host of NPR programs, including Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation.
Seabrook joined NPR in 1998 as an editorial assistant for the music program, Anthem. After serving in a variety of editorial and production positions, she moved to NPR’s Mexico Bureau to work as a producer and translator, providing fill-in coverage of Mexico and Central America. Later, she worked on NPR’s Science Desk and the NPR/National Geographic series, Radio Expeditions, then moving to Morning Edition, where she became as assistant editor. She then began her on-air career as a weekend general assignment reporter for all NPR programs.
Before coming to NPR, Seabrook lived, studied and worked in Mexico City, Mexico. She ran audio for movies and television, and even had a bit part in a Mexican soap opera.
Seabrook earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Earlham College and studied Latin American literature at La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. While in college she worked at WECI, the student-run public radio station at Earlham College.
Housing: A Basic Human Need
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Illinois Public Media and CU-CitizenAccess.org are taking a comprehensive look at housing issues during a day of programming Tuesday, March 27, on WILL-AM, WILL-TV and online.
Champaign and Vermilion counties have seen many changes in their neighborhoods and housing stock since the nation’s economic decline. Among the challenges: More renters are competing for safe and affordable housing. A growing demand is putting stress on existing assistance programs. People sometimes have strong, often negative perceptions of low-income housing.
The initiative looking at these issues and others will culminate that night in a live program, Housing: A Basic Human Need, at 8 p.m. on WILL-TV featuring video stories about housing in the two counties and a roundtable discussion with local experts. The program, hosted by David Inge, will also be videostreamed live at will.illinois.edu with an online chat immediately following the broadcast.
Featured stories include a look at Generations of Hope in Rantoul, an intentional intergenerational community formed to support and serve adoptive families of foster children, and a look at a developer in Danville who turned the historic New Holland building into mixed income housing. Reporter Pam Dempsey of CU-Citizen Access.org is producer of the program. CU-Citizen Access is a community journalism project of the University of Illinois College of Media with professional and student journalists.
The examination of community housing issues is the second in the WILL Connect series in which Illinois Public Media is looking at issues in the community as identified by community conversations and listening sessions. “We’ve heard concerns about affordability, safety and homelessness,” said Kimberlie Kranich, director of community content and engagement for Illinois Public Media. “Affordable housing is about more than a physical structure. It’s also about residents needing a supportive environment and access to services.” The goal of the programming is not only to show problems with housing, but to also highlight some innovative solutions already underway in our area, she said.
WILL-AM’s morning talk program, Focus, will highlight housing issues on March 26 and 27. At 10:06 a.m. Monday, March 26, host David Inge talks to Kevin Jackson, neighborhood services director for the city of Champaign, and Libby Tyler, community development services director for the city of Urbana, about housing issues in the county and a housing study commissioned by the cities. Then at 11:06 a.m. Tuesday, March 27, the focus will be on public housing with Edward Bland, executive director of the Champaign Housing Authority; Greg Hilleary, executive director of the Danville Housing Authority; and Gloria Thompson-Brown, residential coordinator, Green Meadows Housing Complex in Danville.
A new series, Neighbors, on WILL-AM and willconnect.org premieres March 27 and will feature stories every Tuesday about people in Champaign and Vermilion counties and the neighborhoods they call home. “The stories will be told through the voices of those interviewed,” Kranich said.
On March 27, Neighbors hears from Mary Ann Pettigrew has spent most of her life in Danville in a neighborhood known as Rabbittown. On April 3, Gloria Thompson-Brown of Danville talks about her neighborhood, where she and her husband rent a house through Section 8 assistance and where she says neighbors keep an eye out for each other. On April 10, Thom Pollock describes the central Danville neighborhood where he lives in a home that is about 100 years old.
The stories will air on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and The Afternoon Magazine on WILL-AM 580.
13th District Congressional Debate
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
7 pm Wednesday, March 14
WILL-TV, WILL-AM and online
Bloomington physician David Gill and Greene County State’s Attorney Matt Goetten, the Democratic candidates running for Congress in the new 13th District, will meet in the WILL-TV studio for a debate hosted by Illinois Public Media in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Illinois.
WILL-TV and WILL-AM 580 will broadcast the hour-long debate live at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, with live video streaming on will.illinois.edu and an accompanying live Internet chat.
Illinois Public Media’s Jim Meadows will moderate the debate before a live studio audience, with additional questions from Patrick Yeagle, staff writer for the Illinois Times in Springfield; Jill Disis, editor-in-chief of the Daily Illini; and Allison Petty, a reporter for the Decatur Herald & Review.
The 13th Congressional District stretches from Champaign-Urbana west to the Mississippi River and to the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis. The winner of the Democratic primary faces the winner of the three-way Republican contest between U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, now serving the 15th Congressional district that has been redrawn; Edwardsville veterinarian Michael Firsching; and tree-trimming business owner Frank Metzger from Glen Carbon.
Also broadcasting the debate live will be WUIS-FM, Springfield; and WGLT-FM, Bloomington. WEIU-TV, Charleston, will air the debate at 10 p.m. the same night, while KETC-TV, St. Louis, will air it at 7 p.m. Friday, March 16, on the KETC World Channel.
No Republican primary debate is planned at WILL because Johnson declined an invitation to appear in a primary debate, and Firsching and Metzger do not meet criteria adopted from the League of Women Voters for Congressional debate candidates.
Interviews and stories about the candidates are archived at will.illinois.edu/election, where other election coverage is also posted.
2012 All-Day Ag Outlook Meeting
Friday, February 24, 2012
Illinois Public Media’s 22nd annual All-Day Agricultural Outlook Meeting on Tuesday, March 6, will explore strategies producers can use to manage risk in volatile markets.
“It’s much more difficult in a time of greater volatility for producers to capture an average price, because swings are much wider,” said Todd Gleason, host of the Illinois Public Media’s Closing Market Report and Commodity Week.
“We put together our All Day Outlook Meeting to help producers manage that risk around the average in hopes of beating it,” Gleason said. The event begins at 8:40 a.m. EST at the Beef House in Covington, Ind. Tickets are sold out.
Along with Illinois Public Media’s regular on-air analysts, speakers include Mike Morris, chief appraiser at 1st Farm Credit Services; Purdue ag economist Chris Hurt; Joe Vaclavic from Straits Financial; and Steve Platt from Archer Financial Services.
Get full details here.
Nursing Homes Rated Below Average
Friday, November 18, 2011
On Monday, Dec. 5, CU-Citizen Access.org will present Bed check: The Condition of East Central Illinois Nursing Homes, a report on why so many homes are rated below average and what can be done about it.
Listen to their report Monday at 6:35 am and 8:35 am on AM 580 and FM 90.9 or online.
Many nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in east central Illinois are imperiling patients by failing to meet basic standards of care, according to reporting by CU-Citizen Access.org.
Forty percent of the 74 facilities that serve more than 7,200 Medicare and Medicaid patients in east central Illinois have been repeatedly rated below average by inspectors.
CU-Citizen Access reporters found that four out of the seven nursing homes in Champaign and Urbana have been rated below average. The overall federal rating is a combination of the health inspection rating, the staffing rating, and the quality measures rating.
At 11 am the following day, Tuesday, Dec. 6, join the conversation about the challenges of providing quality care in nursing homes, especially in light of state budget problems. Your calls with questions and comments are welcome during an interactive Focus discussion on WILL-AM, with live video on will.illinois.edu.
The CU-Citizen Access.org nursing home reporting is based on the initial work of Sabrina Santucci, a former journalism student in University of Illinois journalism professor Brant Houston’s class, with further reporting by Dan Petrella and Pam Dempsey. Houston is Knight Chair in Investigative Reporting. CU-Citizen Access.org is a community online news and information project that is overseen by Houston and U of I journalism department head Rich Martin. A CU-Citizen Access.org report on restaurant inspections aired on WILL Radio in September.
Uni Student Radio Doc Looks at Disability at the U of I
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
How did the U of I help shape the way the nation thinks about disability? A new radio documentary by Urbana Uni High students, airing at 10 am Thursday, Nov. 24, at 11 am Friday, Nov. 25, on WILL-AM 580, looks at the days when disabled students were new on the U of I campus and at the U of I Beckwith program that allows students with severe disabilities to live on campus.
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Throughout history, when people have faced barriers to achievement, those barriers always have a breaking point, says Kevin Fritz, who graduated last May from the University of Illinois. “It just takes the right people and the right fights and the consistency to break them down,” he said.
Fritz is one of the people with disabilities interviewed for a new radio documentary by Urbana University Laboratory High School students. It looks at the days when disabled students were new on the U of I campus, and how the U of I helped shape the way the nation thought about disability. Airing on WILL-AM 580 at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (repeated at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 25), it also looks at the university’s Beckwith program, a comprehensive assistance model that allows students with severe disabilities to live on campus while attending college.
Also interviewed are Mark Chenail, Adrienne Dahnke, Jean Driscoll, Chuck Elmer, Anjali Forber-Pratt, Mike Frogley, Joshua George, Jon Gunderson, Brad Hedrick, John Hobson, Corey Hyslop, Carl Lewis, Paige Lewis, Jenna Lungaro, Pat Malik, Marty Morse, Lola Nosker, Tim Nugent, Carmen Sutherland and Reo Wilhour.
Breaking Down Disability Barriers: The Journey Toward Equality at the U of I was directed by Dave Dickey of Illinois Public Media and Uni High teacher Janet Morford. Producers were Katherine Floess and Sheela Gogula. Interviews were conducted by Uni students from the classes of 2011 and 2014.
Dickey said the project is related to a previous Uni student documentary about Tim Nugent’s legacy at the U of I. “This is an amazing story that needed to be captured and told to people beyond those in the disability community,” he said. “The voices of people involved in the story needed to be heard.”
WILL Agriculture Takes Ag Info to Mobile Devices
Monday, September 12, 2011
Just in time for harvest season when farmers are often in their combines, WILL agriculture has crafted a website for mobile devices, m.willag.org, providing access to WILL’s on-air agricultural programming and other agricultural news.
The Pre-Opening Market Report, Opening Market Report and Closing Market Report are available on the site each weekday minutes after they air on WILL-AM 580 radio. Commodity Week is available on the site by 6 p.m. Fridays before its 11:30 a.m. Saturday radio broadcast.
“We know producers can’t always be near a computer or pick up a good radio signal when they’re working, especially this time of year. We’re glad we could launch the site this fall,” said Illinois Public Media agricultural director Dave Dickey. “It has the information farmers care most about like our analysis and discussion of the weather.”
On the mobile site, users can also access agricultural news from the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences including Farmdocdaily, The Bulletin and ACES News, and sign up to receive the WILL Ag enewsletter.
The mobile site also has a QR-Code that can be scanned by a smart phone to take a user directly to the mobile website.
The site will also be useful in the next couple of weeks when WILL-AM 580 will significantly lower its power so work can be done on its transmission tower. People who are unable to hear the signal can access ag programming through a live stream on the regular willag.org website, archives on the regular willag.org website and the new mobile site.
Todd Gleason, host of the Closing Market Report and Commodity Week, helped design the mobile site. “We strive to be on the leading edge of farm broadcasting, and are happy we’re able to bring our agricultural analysis to a new platform,” he said.