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.
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.
Ill. Public Broadcasting Stations Launch Service for Educators
Monday, March 05, 2012
Public television and public radio stations in Illinois have entered into an unprecedented partnership to create and launch Illinois PBS LearningMedia, a free, on-demand media resource designed to help PreK-12 educators integrate technology to teach core subjects in the classroom.
“We are excited to help introduce 21st century tools to classrooms statewide,” said Mark Leonard, president of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council (IPBC) and general manager of Illinois Public Media-WILL in Urbana. “In conjunction with PBS LearningMedia, teachers around the state can now access the rich libraries of public television and radio content, and integrate these resources into their lesson plans at no cost to the local schools. Our school-aged children deserve access to the most trustworthy, engaging, educational resources available, which is at the heart of what public broadcasters do.”
Illinois PBS LearningMedia allows educators in Illinois access to 22,000 local and national, classroom-ready digital resources from PBS and other public media stations. Resources are aligned with state and national Common Core education standards. These resources include videos, interactive images, audio files, mobile apps, and lesson plans, which teachers can access and sort by grade level and topic to build their own personal libraries.
“Public media has been delivering educational content for years, so it's a natural fit to create this resource benefiting both teachers and students,” said Greg Petrowich, chair of IPBC's Education Committee and executive director of WSIU Public Broadcasting in Carbondale. “Giving teachers direct access to the highest quality content public broadcasting has to offer is certain to spark even greater innovation in our education system.”
Last fall, Illinois public media stations commissioned a pilot study of the service with 74 teachers representing 43 public and private schools across the state. The study, created by Dr. Evangeline S. Pianfetti of the University of Illinois College of Education and other researchers, confirmed that digital resources help local teachers strengthen connections with students. Results of the pilot study are available online.
“We are very pleased to hear teachers finding the value that PBS LearningMedia is providing Illinois students and educators, and talking about it!” said Rob Lippincott, PBS Senior Vice President, PBS Education. “As America's largest classroom, PBS, in partnership with all Illinois member stations, is committed to offering innovative digital tools and resources for every teacher in Illinois and in classrooms nationwide.”
According to the pilot study, participating teachers unanimously recommend Illinois PBS LearningMedia for its ease of use, variety and diversity of resources, high-quality content, connection to curriculum, ability to engage students, and free access.
“It's awesome to have thousands of video clips at my fingertips at any given time,” said Michael Carton, who teaches first and second grade at the Center for Math and Science in Rock Island.
Marybeth McCormick, a second grade teacher at Sparta Primary Center in Sparta, Ill., agrees. “I enjoy being able to find many resources in one place, especially resources that are educationally based,” she said.
Heather Beck, a vocal music instructor at Our Lady of Grace Academy in East Moline, found the service easy to use and well-organized. “I was able to navigate (the site) easily and locate all the resources I wanted to use with minimal difficulty.”
KiLee Lidwell-McFerren, who teaches high school art at Gibson City High School in Gibson City, appreciates the variety of resources available to educators. “I liked that the new assets were added as the weeks went by. Knowing that there might be new ones added made me look more frequently, and I will continue to use it to look for new supports/ideas.”
New content continues to be added to the online service, which includes resources from PBS, public media stations around the state and country, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, National Geographic, NASA, the National Science Foundation, NPR, and the U.S. Department of Education.
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.
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.
Illinois Public Media, WSIU Host Gubernatorial Debate
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Illinois Public Media, Champaign-Urbana, and WSIU Public Broadcasting, Carbondale, are teaming up to present Republican and Democratic debates for candidates in the Feb. 2 Illinois gubernatorial primary.
Republican candidates will meet in the WILL-TV studio at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14, while Democrats face off at WSIU at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21.
The debates will air on PBS television and public radio stations statewide. WILL-TV and WSIU-TV will carry both debates live, as will WILL-AM and WSIU Radio, which will also stream the debates live at will.illinois.edu and wsiu.org respectively. Check local listings for the date and time in your area. Firm commitments have been received from Republicans Adam Andrzejewski, State Sen. Bill Brady, State Sen. Kirk Dillard, Dan Proft and Bob Schillerstrom. WILL-TV’s John Paul will moderate the Republican debate. Democratic candidates are Governor Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes. WSIU’s Jak Tichenor will moderate the Democratic debate. The stations are producing the debates in collaboration with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, and the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Paul said the overriding issue for the debates is likely to be the state’s budget situation. “I’m sure many of the questions will deal with the state’s fiscal crisis, how it can be resolved and whether tax increases are necessary,” he said. Tichenor said, “No leader in state history will be tested like the next governor of Illinois in the next four years. These debates are critically important for Illinois voters to make an informed decision when they go to the polls.”