A multimedia history of Memorial Stadium by WILL and Illinois Public Media
College of Media at Illinois
About the Producers
John Paul
John Paul has been a producer and public affairs program host at WILL-TV since 2001. He also teaches broadcast journalism in the University of Illinois College of Media. John is a former news director at WCIA-TV, Champaign, where he worked as a reporter, weekend anchor, assistant news director and producer for 23 years. He has always found producing to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of working in television. He was executive producer for WCIA's "After the Storm," a documentary about a series of central Illinois tornadoes in 1996. The program won an award for the best downstate television documentary in 1997 from the Associated Press. John shares a national award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his reporting about business and the economy in China in 2007. John is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in Radio and Television. He is currently seeking a master's degree in journalism.
Denise La Grassa
Denise La Grassa has been working as a television producer for over 15 years. She began working for the Chicago PBS affiliate WTTW in 1993 as correspondent/segment producer for the Emmy-Award winning program "Wild Chicago." La Grassa earned two Midwest Emmy's for the "Wild Chicago" show and one for her work as producer on WTTW's "Artbeat Chicago." La Grassa also conceived and produced a children's program called "Jazz Jym" for Chicago's WPWR. She continued working in kids programming as segment producer/associate producer in a co-production between Middle Passage Productions and Chicago State University, the Emmy-nominated program "Tech-Know Kids." La Grassa enjoyed her role as character social-commentator writer/performer Hanna Huhdaiday for the Emmy nominated NBC-WMAQ Web program "Nude Hippo."
In her work with the City of Chicago television station, La Grassa produced segments and hosted "Your Town Chicago." She also worked for the City of Chicago Cultural Affairs Office and Office of Tourism as program host for the day-long International World of Games event at the Millennium Park Stage in 2006-2007. She moved to Central Illinois in 2006. She can be found singing her jazz composition at local venues in and around central Illinois.
About WILL
WILL is the not-for-profit public media service of the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Our programming and community engagement projects:
- stimulate minds and inspire lifelong learning;
- provide a public forum for the diversity of voices and opinions essential to a healthy democracy;
- provide quality content, respecting the intelligence of our audience;
- explore issues of importance to the communities we serve;
- come from a trusted media organization, accountable and responsive to people we serve;
- present a continuous stage for performing arts programs, assuring the arts a place in our daily lives.
WILL Public Media encompasses:
- WILL-TV, blending a core of PBS programming with locally produced programs that focus on central Illinois. WILL-TV documentaries, including the recent Ten Sisters: A True Story, have aired on PBS stations across the country.
- WILL-AM 580, offering an alternative to quick-fix news through local and regional coverage as well as local talk shows, in-depth weather and agricultural news, and coverage from NPR and the BBC.
- WILL-FM 90.9, bringing listeners programming that touches the human spirit through classical and other music.
- WILL Online at will.illinois.edu, providing live streaming of the WILL-AM signal; program updates; downloads and archives of news stories and programs; weather; and the WILLKids site for families and teachers.
- WILL Community Outreach and Engagement, improving the civic health of the communities we serve by working together with like-minded organizations to address identified community needs and accurately reflect those needs and efforts in the stories we tell.
- WILL Young Learners Initiative, building on our line-up of quality children's television to provide workshops, books and educational resources to parents, teachers and child care providers.