The Gold & Silver Circle is not an award; it’s a society of honor.
Television professionals are inducted to recognize significant contributions made
by these individuals to our industry for 25+ years (Silver) or 50+ years (Gold).
Phil Alvidrez
Phil Alvidrez is a partner and general manager of MagicDust, overseeing both content and business development. He recruits talent, oversees budgets and manages contracts and business relationships with the company’s partners and clients. He was instrumental in the creation of the first two nationally-syndicated television shows ever produced in Phoenix, NASCAR Angels (2006-2010) and RightThisMinute (2011-2022). During its 11 seasons, RightThisMinute became America’s #1 daily viral video TV show airing on more than 200 stations across the U.S.
A journalist at heart, Phil ran the newsroom at KTVK in Phoenix from 1986 through 2003. The station grew to become the market leader and one of ABC’s top affiliates. When ABC moved its affiliation from KTVK in 1994, Phil was a leader in the group that built the most successful independent station in America. A creative approach to news would become the backbone of KTVK’s survival and growth. As VP/News, Phil managed a staff of more than 160, producing nine hours of local news each weekday. He oversaw creation of Arizona’s most- watched morning news program, Good Morning Arizona , and the nation’s first local, Spanish-language all-news cable channel, ¡Más! Arizona . Under his direction, KTVK remained first in news ratings, allowing the station to hold its overall #1 position, sign-on to sign-off.
Phil began his career in 1973 as a producer and reporter at the CBS affiliate in Phoenix (KOOL/KSAZ) and later worked as executive producer and assistant news director before joining KTVK. Phil graduated with honors and a degree in Radio-Television from Arizona State University in 1975.
Phil was the first television journalist to receive the Freedom of Information Award given by the Valley of the Sun Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 1996, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University and is a longtime member of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Silver Circle Society. Phil lives in Phoenix with his wife Mary. They have two children and four grandchildren.
Matthew Barcellos
Matt’s lifelong interest in the visual arts began at Alhambra High School in 1967, 2 years after the Barcellos family moved to Phoenix from Alaska. There he took his first class in mass communication and learned the basics of photography and audio recording. During this time, Matt made a short film and directed his first video. In his senior year, Matt created and hosted a lunch time music and interview show that was broadcast over the school intercom system.
After high school Matt studied Architecture, Art and Design at Arizona State University. Matt’s interest in photography and media continued at ASU, he used his roommate’s camera so he could take photography classes and learned how to develop and print 35mm film. Matt gained hands-on experience at KAET-TV PBS as part of the student crew working on studio production and set construction.
In 1979 Matt moved to Flagstaff, Arizona and based on his experience at KAET was hired at KOAI-TV NBC. Matt worked his way up from broadcast technician to newscast director and knew he had discovered his career path. Matt returned to the University of Arizona to finish his degree where he studied photojournalism, photography and cinematography learning to shoot and edit 16mm film. Matt was a member of the student crew at KUAT-TV PBS working on the daily newsmagazine 'Arizona Illustrated' and other productions.
After graduation in 1982 Matt was hired at KOLD-TV CBS as a news editor and soon was promoted to photojournalist. Matt paid his dues covering news and sports, capturing exclusive footage of the floods of 1983 and the Clifton/Morenci riots during the copper strike of 1984. Matt received first place for spot news in the 1984 Arizona Associated Press awards for his coverage of the copper strike and Clifton/Morenci riots.
In 1984 when the City of Tucson started Tucson Cable 12, Matt made the jump from broadcast news to government information and accepted a position as a TV Production Specialist. He was instrumental in the creation and start-up of the channel. In addition to government information programs and Tucson City Council meetings Matt produced and directed live cablecasts of Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League baseball, University of Arizona Ice Cats collegiate club hockey and the annual Jazz Sunday and Blues Bash concerts.
Two years later Matt joined the Phoenix Channel at the City of Phoenix as a Video Production Specialist to assist in the startup of their government access channel. He continued to produce and direct original programming such as Arizona State University Ice Devils Collegiate Club Hockey games and the Jazz in the Preserves Concert series. At PHXTV Matt specializes in directing live events and producing programs featuring the performing and visual arts, history, and local culture. On occasion Matt has appeared in front of the camera and recently has added social media content creator to his skillset.
Matt served as Vice-President from 1993-94 of the Arizona Chapter of the International Television Association (ITVA), an international organization for corporate, industrial and government video production. He was awarded the International Bronze Reel Award for Videography in 1998 and has received many awards from the local chapter. He has also contributed to many Cable ACE (Award for Cable Excellence) and TELLY award winning programs. Matt enjoyed donating his time and efforts as director and videographer to the chapter’s PSA projects for non-profit organizations such as Southwest Human Development.
Matt received his first regional Emmy®, and the first regional Emmy® to be awarded to a government access channel, in 1990 for the documentary “Careful the Children are Watching” which examined the causes of domestic violence. This was followed by four more regional Emmys® in 1991, 1992, 2006 and 2012 for documentary, public affairs and informational programs. His videography was featured in two other regional Emmy® awarded productions; “Take Me to the River” a documentary on the first non-motorized 10-day raft trip through the Grand Canyon for people with disabilities and “Christmas House”, which documented the travels of a group of young musicians from Rosie’s House, a non-profit music education program for inner city youth, to the Mozart Festival in Salzburg, Austria. In 1994, Matt was one of the first to represent government access TV on the Board of Governors of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of NATAS where he served as Vice-President Awards from 1995-1998 and Vice-President Events 1999.
From 1995 to 2010 Matt was the Video Director at the Sundome Center for the Performing Arts, part of ASU Public Events, the largest single-level theatre in the United States, directing 100’s of live concerts and other events. Matt also worked for Arizona State University Intercollegiate Athletics Sun Devil football and basketball and the Arizona Cardinals as handheld camera operator, technical director and video engineer. When the Arizona Coyotes moved to Glendale in 2003, Matt was on the crew at the Glendale Arena as director, technical director and replay operator during home games and other events. In addition, Matt has worked as a freelance director, videographer and director of photography for many national and local clients such as CBS, ABC Sports, NBC Sports, FOX, ESPN, A&E and Discovery.
Vanessa Lichvar
Vanessa Lichvar has two loves in TV news: editing and capture. Her editing experience began the old-fashioned way — using a razor blade to physically cut tape. When technology advanced to ¾-inch tape, her first piece to edit was a POV Roller Coaster ride. From that point, she was hooked! She edits on much more advanced equipment now but does so with the same enthusiasm. She’s a master at capture as well — taking in live feeds from satellites, microwave signals, computers and cell phones locally and around the world.
While in high school, Vanessa began her career “behind the scenes” working as a lighting and sound tech in theatre in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She moved into broadcasting while in college at Eastern New Mexico University. She then served as a technician and weather reporter at Clovis radio station KTQM and worked at ENMU’s PBS station KENW-TV.
After graduation, she accepted her first job at KTVK -- 3TV in Phoenix, which was an ABC affiliate at the time. Vanessa was working as a video editor the day the iconic Good Morning Arizona newscast debuted in 1994. In 2003, she went to KPHO-CBS 5 as a video editor and eventually transitioned to capture, but she never stopped editing. In 2014, the Meredith Corporation brought Vanessa full circle with the purchase of KTVK-TV, bringing her back home to “Arizona’s Family”.
Always evolving, Vanessa worked on her first True Crime Arizona podcast and documentary, “Finding Robert Fisher”. She uses her time between newscasts and long-form projects to cross train with engineers on live trucks to better assist field crews as issues arise. She is known in the newsroom for her good-natured spirit, comedic relief and willingness to help. Vanessa is a voice of confidence, competence and kindness.
A mother of two and stepmother to three, Vanessa helped raise and counsel countless other kids in her years of service with Chandler Christian (now Compass Church) in the East Valley. For five years, she volunteered as a Sunday school teacher there and started a video ministry for the campus in 1998. She has also volunteered to assist with many station community service events from the annual Phoenix Pride Parade to most recently the Super Bowl Host Committee outreach effort on the Pima Maricopa Indian Reservation, bringing former NFL players together to teach kids how to stay active. In her free time, Vanessa loves to watch movies and explore Arizona with her wife Sara.
Vanessa is living a dream she didn’t even know she had and is very humbled to be included in the 2023 class of Silver Circle inductees.
Todd Martin
Todd was born and grew up in the Midwest before moving to Arizona in 1989 to attend the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. After graduating ASU, he was hired as an editor at KTVK, Channel 3 in 1993.
It wasn’t long until his real calling as a photographer couldn’t be ignored. He started chasing breaking news overnight in his personal car with a police scanner and a VHS camcorder. He just wanted to shoot. Soon after the station gave him an opportunity to work as a photographer at the station’s bureau in Flagstaff Arizona.
There he was able to hone his craft, covering stories like the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing, which was planned in Kingman, Arizona. Countless snowstorms and hours of driving to cover news all over Northern Arizona finally led to his return to Phoenix in 1998.
There he continued covering news on the ground and up in the stations helicopter. Stories included the Rodeo-Chediski Fire, Hurricane Katrina, the 2001 World Series, Super Bowls, living at a firehouse for a month after 9-11, a border and immigration series, and numerous wildfires in Arizona and Southern California.
He moved into a role in special projects in the early 2000’s, which included the show Everyday Entertaining , the station’s Monsoon Specials , the Rachel’s Challenge special, and his main focus now, On Your Side .
Always striving to learn new skills he has received his Type 2 Wildland Firefighter Certificate as well as being a certified fire journalist through the Phoenix Fire Department. He is a FAA certified drone pilot and produces podcasts for the On Your Side brand. Todd's passion is inspiring upcoming journalists and he guest lectures at schools across the Phoenix Metro area.
He is a multi-regional Emmy® nominated and Emmy® winning journalist who has worked at KTVK for more than 29 years. He is married to his wife Michelle, who is a middle school principal. Todd is extremely excited to be a member of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Silver Circle Society.
Sean Mooney
During a career that has spanned more than 40 years, Sean Mooney has traveled a path that included working as a producer and talent for Major League Baseball Productions, an announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an anchor and reporter for WWOR in New York and WBZ in Boston, a correspondent and producer for Fox Sports Arizona and a reporter and anchor for KVOA, NBC in Tucson. Along the way he has been recognized for his work in broadcasting by winning several awards, including a National Emmy® and two regional Emmy® awards.
Raised in Tucson, and eventually graduating from the University of Arizona, Sean began his career in New York by working in sports television. After working in the world of professional wrestling he entered the news business and worked in the top two markets in the country before returning home to his beloved Arizona. There he then spent the next decade working, once again, in sports television by covering professional and college sports across the state. During that span of time, he also started his own production company -- Moonrise Productions, which produces television shows for Fox Sports. In 2012 he had the opportunity to go to work for the TV station where he once interned – KVOA-TV in Tucson. There he has remained in the city that he loves.
When not anchoring four news programs each night, Sean spends his time with his large family and is active in the community. He commits his time to several charities including; the American Heart Association, Steele Children’s Research Center, Southern Arizona Community Food Bank, and his own non-profit -- DoDads.
Kris Pickel
Kris Pickel never showed up at the station just to read a script. The honor of representing newsrooms as an anchor, and her belief in the importance of trusted journalism, motivated Pickel to do reports and investigations on her own time. She pursued information needed to protect people even when managers told her to move on.
Spending time in jail as an inmate, getting dropped into frozen lakes, covering wildfires, blizzards, riots, live sporting events, political rallies, and standing up to the medical industry, to the government, and to those in power when people were being harmed, and volunteering to help countless organizations and causes defined Pickel’s approach to journalism. Pickel valued daily stories as much as in-depth investigations, knowing she often shared the best or worst days of someone’s life. Her investigations have led to policy changes on local and national levels, including increased warnings on breast implants. Her work has been recognized with ten regional Emmy® awards, two Edward R. Murrow awards, as well as multiple other awards.
Pickel’s biggest joy is her family, including her husband Carl Lemon, their sons Clark and Bruce (think superheroes), her parents, sisters, and their incredible families.
Van Tate
Van Tate has been covering New Mexico sports for the last 20 years. The Hobbs High School and University of New Mexico graduate says he was destined for a journalism career at an early age. While still a child, Van would tape record his own version of the news. He called it, “the creepy scary news.” “I really forgot all about that,” said Van, “my mother played a recording for me after I got my first job in the business.”
Van was a business major when he first arrived at UNM. He said he doesn’t know why he switched to journalism. He said it was just a natural move. That move has given him a chance to cover the Indy 500, NFL games, Bowl games, NCAA tournaments, as well as a long list of other exciting events.
You can catch Van doing sports Monday through Friday on KRQE -- News 13 and Fox -- New Mexico. He also has an online sports discussion called, “The Sports Office” . His guest list includes a variety of people from the world of sports from NFL stars, College players, coaches, and even to an occasional movie star. Some of Van’s achievements include: National Sportswriter and Sportscaster of the Year New Mexico (11 time winner), Albuquerque the Magazine “Best of the City Sports Reporter” (5 times winner), Associated Press Best Sports (5 time winner), and NMBA Best Sports (3 time winner).