Silver Circle
Society Members
The Silver Circle is not an award; it is a society of honor.
Television professionals are inducted to recognize their significant contributions to the industry over 25 years or more.
Silver Circle Honoree
2017
Bob Adlhoch
If you have ever watched and enjoyed the Phoenix Suns on television, it is no doubt because of Bob Adlhoch.
The Phoenix Suns hired Bob in 2001 as their TV producer and director. He was later promoted to Executive Producer, overseeing content for, producing and directing Suns game broadcasts on Fox Sports Arizona.
Bob has been part of the sports production community in the Valley since 1990. After graduating with honors from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University with a BA in broadcast journalism, he worked for 5 years as a freelance graphics operator and producer.
Bob also worked at Cox Communications producing and directing live sporting events as well as studio programs. He was part of the team behind the channel launch of Cox 9 (now Cox 7) and was instrumental in the live Thursday night high school football broadcasts that have since become a programming staple for Cox.
A past recipient of 20 Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards for producing, directing and graphic design, Bob was also selected to the Phoenix Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 program in 2009. In 2017 he was inducted into the prestigious Silver Circle Society in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Bob is a long-time member of both NATAS’ local board of governors and executive committee as well as the chapter’s past-president and national past trustee, has been elected to a two-year term on the National Emmy® Awards Committee, which oversees the Daytime Emmys®, News/Documentary Emmys®, Sports Emmys® and Technology/Engineering Emmys®. In his role, Adlhoch will serve as the voice of NATAS’ regional chapters to the national governing body.
Being a masterful producer and director of sports for television is what Bob does. Being a devoted husband to Kellie, an amazing father to MacKinley and Jackson, and being an example of a true friend and involved citizen in his community, is who Bob is.
Silver Circle Honoree
2000
Charles Allen
Charles “Chuck” Allen helped launch KAET-TV (PBS-Phoenix), in 1960 and taught television production at Arizona State University. When Charles Allen started at KAET-TV Channel 8, it was a fledgling public television station that stopped broadcasting for the day once classes got out. When he retired in 2002, it was one of the most recognized PBS affiliates in the country. During the four decades in between, Allen pushed for innovative programming like “The Cousteau Odyssey” and the first globally televised open-heart surgery.
Allen went on to work as a program manager in Allentown, Pennsylvania, before becoming vice-president of programming at KCET in Los Angeles, where he worked with Jacques Cousteau and Carl Sagan, among others. However, he wanted to return to Arizona. He returned to KAET in 1980 and led the development the concept for Horizon, the station’s award-winning, nightly public affairs program. Allen had many memorable moments, including 1983’s Operation, a live open-heart surgery during which viewers could call in to the doctor.
He became general manager in 1987, and in 1991 launched The Arizona Collection, a series of programs that celebrates the history and people of the state. In 1997, Allen was named to the Hall of Fame at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and continued to serve until his retirement.
Silver Circle Honoree
2007
George Allen
George Allen was an innovator in sports broadcasting. From 1977 -1981 Allen was a radio host and reporter for KTAR-AM. He was the first host of the 620 Sportsline, the first local radio program that pioneered the genre of sports talk radio in the southwestern United States; a show that lives on today.
From 1981-2000 he served as the Program Director and play-by-play announcer for Dimension Cable/Cox Communications. He founded Arizona Sports Programming Network, the first local sports television network in Arizona. He broadcast the first high school football “Game of the Week”, establishing local high school gridiron action as a staple today in many sports program lineups. George was often heard during the 80’s filling in for Al McCoy calling the Phoenix Suns games. But whether it was a Suns game or high school action, George treated every broadcast the same – important to those who would watch it.
Silver Circle Honoree
2006
Robert Allingham
Robert “Bob” Allingham was born January 2, 1929 in Manhattan, Kansas to G. Robert Allingham, D.D.S. and his wife Polly Ann (Kelley). He graduated from Kansas State University. He met Virginia Stuart Bailey (Ginger) in St. Louis when he was a lieutenant in the Air Force. They married in Safford, AZ and were stationed in Germany during the Korean War.
After returning from Germany, he received his Masters degree from the University of Houston. He went to work at KTAR (now KPNX) moving up from director to Vice President of Programming and Station Manager. He retired after 36 years. He received numerous awards and is in the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the NATAS Silver Circle Society.
Bob was an avid golfer and active in the Heard Museum Guild serving on the Guild Board, and as editor of the Guild newsletter, Artifacts. Robert passed away in 2016 at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Ginger, and his four children Charles, Michael (Carol), Robin (Cliff) Veasey, Elizabeth and his grandchildren.
Silver Circle Honoree
1999
Phil Alvidrez
Phil Alvidrez is the general manager of MagicDust Television and executive in charge of production for RightThisMinute. Phil graduated from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Radio-TV in 1975. One of his professors at the time, Max Jennings, who was also the Executive Editor of the Mesa Tribune, would later tell people that Phil was one of the brightest students he ever had. A journalist at heart, Phil spent 10 years at KOOL-TV, now KSAZ-TV, from 1975 through 1985 as a producer, executive producer and assistant news director. In 1986, Phil moved over to KTVK-TV, where he ran the newsroom from 1986 through 2003. 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. That innovation continues at MagicDust with the creation of the first two nationally-syndicated television shows ever produced in Phoenix, NASCAR Angels (2006-2010) and RightThisMinute (2011-present). Phil is a member of the alumni Hall of Fame at the Walter Cronkite School at Arizona State University.
Silver Circle Honoree
2017
Catherine Anaya
Some people are just naturals. In December 2004, Catherine Anaya was at the KPHO-TV holiday party when a co-worker asked her if she was interested in joining the station’s team to run in the Phoenix Rock n’ Roll half marathon the following month. Catherine had never run more than five miles before and, other than being a high school cheerleader in Costa Mesa, California, she had never participated in an organized sport. But, perhaps as the result of one glass of wine too many, Catherine agreed to join KPHO’s half marathon team. After awaking the next morning to the realization that the race was last than a month away, Catherine bought some running shoes. A few weeks later, she ran the half marathon and enjoyed it. She signed up for the full marathon the following year, and not only enjoyed that, but discovered afterward that her time was only a few minutes shy of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. The following year, Catherine ran her second Rock n’ Roll marathon, and this time she qualified for Boston. On April 16, 2007, Catherine Anaya ran the Boston Marathon. She was 39 years old and had been running for only 27 months. Catherine has since run the Boston Marathon two more times…to date.
What sort of person does that? Catherine Anaya does that.
Catherine’s broadcast career has been similarly amazing. After graduating for USC’s Annenberg School, Catherine spent the first few years of her career at KRGV-TV in Weslaco, Texas and at WSB-TV in South Bend, Indiana. She came to Phoenix in 1992 to join KPNX-TV. After six years as an anchor and reporter at KPNX, Catherine went west to join KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. After four years in L.A. as an anchor and reporter, Catherine was lured back to Phoenix in 2003 by KPHO-TV. Catherine spent the next 12 years as one of the KPHO’s evening anchors and during that time was named the “Anchor of the Year” by the Arizona Associated Press Broadcasters Association. She won several Emmy® Awards during that time and conducted many significant interviews, including one with President Barack Obama at the White House in 2014. Catherine also co-anchored with the legendary Walter Cronkite in 2004 after a presidential debate between President George Bush and John Kerry at ASU’s Gammage Auditorium.
Since 2016, Catherine has worked at AZTV, where she is the host of “Arizona Daily Mix.” She is also the host of the weekly radio show, “The Women’s Eye,” on 1480 KPHX.
“Catherine’s professionalism brings a warm glow to any television screen,” says AZTV’s CEO Lynn Londen. “She enhances every subject she interviews, and has her own unique way of bringing out the importance of every topic she covers.”
Catherine is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the current secretary of the Arizona Latino News Media Association Board of Directors and is a graduate of the Valley’s Hispanic Leadership Institute, Class of 2004. She is also a member of the Make-A-Wish Arizona Board of Directors. In 2009, Catherine founded the Sisterhood of Super Women, a group of women from all walks of life that meets for lunch once a month to inspire and motivate each other and select charities for donations. Catherine is also the director of The Lats Legacy Foundation, which raises money for scholarships at the University of Southern California. Catherine is also an active speaker at community and charitable events. In 2017 she was inducted into the Silver Circle in our chapter.
Oh, and Catherine is also a killer a spin-cycle instructor.
Silver Circle Honoree
2022
Bill Anderson
In 1979 when a marketing internship during college in Milwaukee at WITI – TV turned into a job offer, Bill Anderson started his journey along an incredible career in the industry. From floor crew to news and production manager to director of promotion and operations and Station Marketing and Operations Manager, Bill learned the full spectrum of television station jobs at WQOW in Eau Claire, KCRG in Cedar Rapids and WGGB in Springfield Massachusetts. These station assignments cemented a career-long appreciation for the importance of ideas and determination over market limitations.
On the way to becoming a GM, Bill won an Emmy in 1993 when he created Flood Aid: Broadcast Across America for the American Red Cross, a National Telethon with 255 TV stations coast-to-coast agreeing to simulcast this program for the benefit of those ruined by the great Iowa floods that year. In just 11 days Bill enlisted the help of competitors and convinced NBC to lend Willard Scott, ABC to send Spencer Christian and CBS to provide actor-comedian Jay Thomas. Barry Manilow got involved with a song, and the NAB urged all its members to air it. In the end, Flood Aid raised $8.5M in one night and earned the distinction of being both the largest TV network in history but also one of the largest single-event Red Cross fundraisers.
For Bill personally, Flood Aid provided a glimpse of the power of Local TV to do good, and inspired a desire to become a GM who harnesses the talents of others to do well and to do good with a public license. He soon got his first GM posting in Tallahassee, FL at WTWC-TV and from there to WGME, Portland finally landing at KRQE in Albuquerque in 1999. Since then he has expanded the operation into a four Station “Quad” configuration which includes KRQE (CBS), FOXNM as well as KWBQ and KASY all known as KRQE Media.
Bill has always remembered those lessons from early in his career and focused on the community and supporting/encouraging individuals and their talents. His involvement in our region has included roles on the board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the March of Dimes, United Way Mission Families and he has been named New Mexico Broadcaster GM of the Year. Bill takes a personal interest in helping others and perhaps no better example is when he mentored and then hired a man transitioning back to society after a decade in the New Mexico state prison system. He did the same for a homeless man in the area.
Bill’s partner and wife, Debbie have been together 42 years and raised three children and enjoy 5 grandchildren.
Silver Circle Honoree
2009
Guy Atchley
Guy Atchley served nearly three decades as anchor of KGUN 9 News in Tucson. As you may know, Guy enjoys photography, and he is going to share pictures and stories from his series: “Guy Atchley’s Arizona.”
Since he graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio/Television Speech, Guy has received more than 20 awards for excellence in reporting. During Guy’s tenure, the Associated Press has honored KGUN 9 News with the award for Best Newscast in Southern Arizona seven times. In 1992, Guy swept the Arizona AP awards by winning three first-place honors including: Best Serious Feature, Best Light Feature, and Best General Reporting in the State. Guy also was honored for his reports on living conditions in China in the documentary “China: 1987”. And in October of 1993, Guy traveled to the Middle East for a documentary on Israel’s quest for peace. That documentary, plus Guy’s news reports and speeches to expose intolerance and bigotry, earned him the 1994 Human Relations Award presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council.
Besides reporting from several foreign countries, Guy also has traveled the United States. He has covered space shuttle launches in Florida, racial tension in the South, and immigration policies at the U.S./Mexico border. On Veterans Day in 1994, Guy reported from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He later returned to Washington to cover the Monica Lewinsky scandal. For more than two decades, Guy has spent each Labor Day as Tucson host for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Guy counted the comedian as a good friend and mentor. Lewis wrote, “Guy Atchley’s ‘good news’ stories reflect the devotion to his community and to the human community. That makes him a great newsman and a close ally of mine.”
Guy has interviewed many famous people, but it’s the not-so-famous, the unsung heroes of America, that Guy loves to focus on. University of Arizona Basketball Coach, Lute Olson says, “I applaud Guy Atchley for focusing on what is good in our world.”
You may have seen Guy’s cameos in several movies, “Jericho Fever,” which was produced for the USA Cable Network, the remake of “Vanishing Point” for Fox TV, and the independent film “Runnin at Midnite.” And in case you’re wondering, Guy played the role of a reporter in each film. Guy Atchley retired from KGUN 9 in 2018.
Silver Circle Honoree
2022
Edward Ayala
Edward Ayala grew up in a small farming community in the Arizona/Sonora Mexico border. The son of migrant farm workers, Edward learned to till the land and irrigate crops at the age of 10. When his parents became United States Citizens they opened an auto repair shop which would change Edward’s world and career path. At 12, Edward met a photographer from a local television station at that repair shop. What started as a hello ended up with him holding a TV camera on his shoulder and seeing a whole new world through the viewfinder of that camera. This was the beginning of Edward’s storytelling career.
Edward started his career in television at the age of 15 at KYMA in Yuma, Arizona as a part-time production tape operator. He went on to become a Technical Director and Director of the evening newscasts. At age 18 he was promoted to Production Manager leading the Production and Creative Services staff. At the age of 20 Edward moved to Tucson, AZ, working as a Photojournalist at KOLD and Chief Photographer at KGUN. He was recruited to the Phoenix market by KNXV as a Photojournalist then promoted to investigative and special projects. He is currently an Investigative Producer/Photojournalist at KPHO/KTVK.
Edward is a recipient of several Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy® Awards. As well as multiple Edward R. Murrow awards, and an Alfred I DuPont award.
In 2016 Edward joined the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University where he is a highly regarded adjunct professor teaching videography and editing. He has taught and mentored hundreds of students who are now working Journalists in newsrooms across the country, including Phoenix.
Silver Circle Honoree
2013
Roger Ball
Roger Ball began his broadcast career at KPHO-TV in 1967. His first job was in promotion and production, and then after a few months became the only person in the newsroom to shoot, write and edit stories. Two years later he joined the staff of KTAR-TV (now KPNX-TV) and for the next eight years worked as a news film reporter/photographer, news production manager, and assignment editor. He then joined the staff of KTVK-TV as Executive Producer/Assistant News Director. Two years later he rejoined KPNX-TV in the newly created position of Managing Editor. Within a year Channel 12’s new owners, Gannett, promoted Ball to a news director position at their station in Indiana. He later served as news director at two different stations in the Midwest and New England.
Just prior to returning to Phoenix in 1993, Ball served as a consultant to new television stations in the emerging republics of the former Soviet Union–most notably in the Republic of Belarus where he helped start a new television station and he set up a nationwide network of independent television stations. He also taught at broadcast news seminars in Kiev, Ukraine, and Moscow, Russia. After returning to the United States ball has taken 14 credit hours of Russian language.
Ball then rejoined the team at KTVK-TV as News Assignment Manager until the fall of 2001 when he began serving as Community Relations Branch Manager and Public Information Officer for the Maricopa County Department of Transportation. While working with the Maricopa County Government, Ball was frequently called up to offer guidance and assistance to other departments during emergency and crisis situations. Additionally, he organized and managed distribution of real time traffic information for Phoenix International Raceway’s major NASCAR events. He also became the point person for community relations for the South Court Tower construction, the largest capital project Maricopa County had ever begun. Though attacked at times by heavy public and political criticism, the completed project had a very positive image by the public.
Roger and Susan have been married more than 50 years and live in Surprise, Arizona. They have four children (both biological and adopted), six grandchildren–thanks to two sets of twins—and one great-grandchild. They are also former foster parents and have cared for 20 different children in their lives.
Currently Ball serves as a reporter for Independent Newsmedia, emphasizing coverage in the community of Sun City West. He recently served as a communications consultant for a large community development in the Navajo Nation.
In 2013, Ball was honored by the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with an induction to the Silver Circle Society.
Silver Circle Honoree
2023
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.
Silver Circle Honoree
2002
Larry Barker
Larry Barker’s name is synonymous with investigative reporting in New Mexico. Larry has led the KRQE News 13 investigative team since 2004.
Larry began his broadcasting career in 1975 at an Albuquerque radio station, and quickly moved on to television. He began as a producer, and his passion for uncovering scandals and wrong-doing soon led him into investigative reporting. Larry was a founding member of the ground-breaking “Target 7” team. Larry’s award-winning investigative reports have exposed corruption, caught con men in the act, and helped change laws. Barker has traveled the world in his journalistic quest; tracking fugitive spies to Moscow, con men to the back streets of London, exposing hijackers hiding in Cuba, and following stories to Mexico, the Persian Gulf, and the Bahamas.
His work has been honored throughout his career by both his peers and professional organizations. He has received forty-eight Emmy® Awards from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences, five regional Edward R. Murrow awards from the Radio and Television News Directors Association, four Best of the West awards, and dozens of awards from the New Mexico Associated Press Broadcasters, the Albuquerque Press Club and the New Mexico Broadcasters Association. In 2019, Larry received a “Lifetime Achievement” Award from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. In 2002, Larry was honored with the prestigious Silver Circle Award for 25 years of service in television from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Prior to his television broadcasting career, Larry worked as a staff assistant in the United States Senate. In addition to his expertise as an investigative journalist, he has been a radio broadcaster at stations in both Prescott and Albuquerque. Larry is a graduate of Prescott College, in Prescott, Arizona. He is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and has wanted to pursue a career in journalism ever since he worked on his high school newspaper. In addition to Larry Barker, the KRQE News 13 Investigative Team includes Producer Mark Corey, and Editor Tommy Garcia.
Silver Circle Honoree
2019
Charlie Barnes
In summer of 1979, while registering for classes necessary for the completion of a master’s degree in English, Charlie found that the Theatre Department at UNM was offering a class in tap dancing. With visions of Fred Astaire gliding through her brain, she signed up for the tap class. It was a very small class, only five students at the outset, she got to know her instructor, a hoofer from Great Britain with some BBC experience, quite well. As it turned out, he was trying to start some classes in Television Production that would be in the Theatre Arts department rather than the Journalism department, and needed bodies to fill the seats for fall semester. He agreed not to interfere with Charlie’s graduate work if hers could be one of the bodies needed. She acquiesced to his proposal, and brought along a few friends during the first semester of the endeavor.
The classes were enjoyed by all. At the end of the fall semester, the hoofer had procured five unpaid internships for the spring semester: three at the PBS station managed by UNM and two at KGGM TV, the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque. At first, Charlie declined any internship based on the work she had to do in her graduate program, but when one of the people who had accepted a KGGM internship dropped out of the program, and with a renewed promise not to interfere with her graduate work, Charlie took the KGGM internship so that it would not be lost to the hoofer forever. During the term of the internship, Charlie was hired as a master control operator at KGGM, and the rest, as they say,,is history.
Charlie has two enduring reasons to remember the hoofer: shin splints and a long-lived love of all things television.
Silver Circle Honoree
2014
Dan Barr
Dan Barr is the Chief Deputy Attorney General of Arizona. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office in January 2023, he was a partner with Perkins Coie LLP in Phoenix. For 38 years, he represented broadcasters and other news media organizations in Arizona and throughout the country in wide variety of matters. He has taught media law at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. <br> <br> He is the author of the "Arizona Reporter’s Handbook on Media Law" (6th edition), and is a contributing author to "News Now: Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age." In 2010, he was the first lawyer to participate in the Pulitzer Prize Winners’ Workshop at Hong Kong Baptist University in Hong Kong, China. In 2014, Barr traveled to Belgrade and Nis, Serbia to conduct two three-day workshops sponsored by the U.S. State Department for Serbian journalists about the U.S. legal system, media law and media coverage of the courts. For the past four years, he has participated in the U.S. State Department’s Studies of U.S. Institutes program, which invites 16-20 journalism professors from around the world to participate in a six-week program in the United States concerning journalism and structure of the U.S. government. <br> <br> Barr was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of NATAS in 2014.
Silver Circle Honoree
2024
Jason Barry
Jason is a 10-time Rocky Mountain Emmy® Award winner who was born in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of Miami.
An avid sports fan, Jason follows the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Suns with his wife, Karen, and son, Joshua.
He is best known for his weekly "Dirty Dining" reports, which highlight local restaurants with major health code violations.
For years, Jason put together the station’s "Pay it Forward" segments, which rewarded members of the community with $500 for going ‘above and beyond’ the call of duty to help others.
His favorite stories are the ones where he can make a difference in someone’s life: getting money back from a crooked contractor, saving someone’s home from foreclosure, or helping someone being taken advantage of.
Jason has covered an assortment of major news stories, including the deadliest Amtrak derailment in U.S. history in 1993, the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster in 2003, and the University of Arizona’s National Championship in 1997. Jason started his career at WBTW-TV in Florence, SC, before moving to WALA-TV in Mobile, AL. He was named the Associated Press Reporter of the Year in Arizona in 2002.
Silver Circle Honoree
2006
Margaret Beardsley
Margaret Beardsley is the former Executive Producer of top-rated Good Morning Arizona on KTVK-TV3. She oversaw the expansion of GMAZ while at KTVK to make it the highest rated local morning show, an honor held for 12 years. Margaret also worked to create local segment favorites such as Dave the Garden Guy, Queen of Clean, Home Sweet Home and developed Game-Day Friday coverage, Arizona on the Road and Holiday Mall Shows. During her time at KTVK also she served as Executive Producer of Good Evening Arizona, a two-hour daily newscast, working with reporters and producers to cover local, national and international news. As Executive Producer of Special Projects she created the show Politics Unplugged as well as produced Monsoon Specials for 3-TV and an Arizona Town Hall. In addition to several Rocky Mountain Emmy® nominations, she received regional Emmy® Awards for Spot News Coverage and is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Silver Circle Society.
Silver Circle Honoree
2008
Ron Bergamo
Ron Bergamo was an Arizona native and grew up in Phoenix. He graduated from North High School and attended The University of Arizona where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in marketing in 1965. He was a proud member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity – Beta Phi Chapter and was later inducted into the Beta Phi Hall of Fame. He was a member of the University of Arizona’s President’s Club, The Bobcats, and the University of Arizona Alumni Association recognized him with a distinguished citizen’s award. Ron was a member of “Who’s Who in American Colleges” in Arizona and in America. In 1969 Ron started his media career in Chicago, with Leo Burnett Advertising agency. In 1972, he earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Northwestern University. He worked for the CBS affiliated stations in Kansas, Texas and Arizona. His first general manager’s job was in Beaumont, Texas. He was lauded into a high – profile G.M. position at KWCH, in Wichita, Kansas, where national recognition came his way. The station and Ron were the “Look of the Leader.” Ron returned to Phoenix in 1988 to head up KTSP – T.V., Channel 10. Ron changed the image of the station and the call letter to KSAZ for the “Spirit of Arizona.” Ron also helped build and start up KWBA, a Tucson station of which he was part owner. This experience then led him to partner up with Jack Londen, at KAZ-T.V., known as “Arizona’s Own, ” which is the only locally owned T.V. station in the Valley, and Prescott. He was the President and COO of KAZ-TV until his death. Ron was an active member of the community. Ron was generous with his time and active in numerous charitable and civic boards such as; board member for of The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State (he was to chair this for the next two years), Arizona Broadcaster’s Association, Eller National Board of Advisors, Paradise Valley United Methodist Church Communication Board, Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix, which he attended as a young boy. Ron was the Ad Man for both Phoenix and Wichita. He had a passion for racing vintage Porsche’s with the Vara Club. He was a busy man, but somehow, he put his family first on his list. Ron passed away in 2008 at the age of 64.
Silver Circle Honoree
2004
Steve Bodinet
Steve Bodinet was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1951. He attended Indiana University, graduating in 1973. He majored in Radio & Television and minored in History & Folklore.
Steve Bodinet was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1951. He attended Indiana University, graduating in 1973. He majored in Radio & Television and minored in History & Folklore.
In 1975 he began his career at Buckeye Cablevision in Toledo, Ohio as a Director and Producer. Two years later he moved over to WTOL TV-11 (CBS).
In 1978, Steve made his move to Phoenix, Arizona as a news photographer for KOOL TV-10 (CBS), where he also worked on documentaries, produced and wrote. While at Channel 10, he received a Rocky Mountain Emmy® Award in 1983 for “Arizona Wildlife.”
In 1986 he moved over to KTVK TV-3 (ABC & Independent) as a Reporter & Photographer. During his long career at KTVK he also served as on-air talent, producer, writer, and editor for Outdoor/Wildlife documentaries, receiving another Regional Emmy® Award in 1991, for “River of Dreams,” a sixteen-day Colorado River trip with physically challenged crews. Some of Steve’s career highlights were, assignments in Israel, Bolivia, Australia, Solomon Islands, the 1988 Olympics in Canada, and being the on the first TV crew to document Kartchner Caverns.
Steve retired from Channel 3 in 2014 and now works at traveling, playing music & having fun!
In 1975 he began his career at Buckeye Cablevision in Toledo, Ohio as a Director and Producer. Two years later he moved over to WTOL TV-11 (CBS).
Then in 1979 her made his move to Phoenix, Arizona as a news photographer for KOOL TV-10 (CBS), where he also worked on documentaries, produced and wrote. While at Channel 10, he received a Rocky Mountain Emmy® Award in 1983 for “Arizona Wildlife.”
In 1986 he moved over to KTVK TV-3 (ABC & Independent) as a Reporter & Photographer. During his long career at KTVK he also served as on-air talent, producer, writer, and editor for Outdoor/Wildlife documentaries, receiving another Regional Emmy® Award in 1991, for “River of Dreams,” a sixteen-day Colorado River trip with physically challenged crews. Some of Steve’s career highlights were, assignments in Israel, Bolivia, Australia, Solomon Islands, the 1988 Olympics in Canada, and being the on the first TV crew to document Kartchner Caverns.
Steve retired from Channel 3 in 2014 and now works at traveling, playing music & having fun!
Silver Circle Honoree
2016
John Booth
John Booth is presently the Executive Producer of Content at Arizona Public Media (Tucson) and has been working in media for over thirty years. A Tucson native, Booth graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Radio & Television in December 1983, then spent the next six years at KUAT, now Arizona Public Media, as a production technician and Videographer/Editor.
In 1989, he moved his family to Portland, Oregon where, over a seventeen year span at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), he shot and edited for such national PBS programs as Frontline, Nova, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, and the highly acclaimed documentary series “Triumph of the Nerds: The History of the Personal Computer; produced and wrote programs including Sinking The Lusitania, Occupied Japan, and episodes of The Great Lodges Of The National Parks and Great American Railway Journeys; and served as a Production Executive managing personnel and finance activities for OPB’s national PBS projects such as History Detectives, West Point, Kingdom Of David, The Aleutians, and reports for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. From 2005 to 2009 Booth was Executive Producer and Director of Production at Eight, Arizona PBS, Phoenix. His credits include the history series Arizona Stories, Arizona Memories of the Seventies, Under Arizona, and Arizona Lodges.
More recently, Booth served as Deputy Director of Content at KCTS9 in Seattle, Washington where he oversaw Television Production, Interactive and Community Engagement. An opportunity to join the creative staff of Arizona Public Media (AZPM) as Executive Producer lured him back to desert. In the past two years AZPM has been awarded 41 individual Emmy® Awards and the 2015 Overall Excellence Award and 2016 Governors Award.
Booth’s work has earned him multiple awards including two NHK Japan Prizes, Tellys, CINEs, and a Chicago International Film Silver Hugo Award.
Booth and his wife LynnMarie have two children, Nicole and Colby.
Silver Circle Honoree
2009
Sue Breding
Sue Breding is the communications director for the city of Glendale, AZ. She was selected by the Phoenix Business Journal as a 2023 Outstanding Woman in Business honoree. Sue was a Phoenix news reporter on the popular ‘Good Morning Arizona’ show on KTVK- TV and prior to that, was a TV news reporter on KCAL-9 in the second largest U.S. city, Los Angeles. After an award-winning broadcasting career, including being honored with three regional Emmy® awards, she transitioned into governmental communications, becoming one of the state’s top female leaders in government. She serves as a national trustee for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) setting policy and direction for the primetime and daytime Emmy® awards. She’s an executive committee member for the NATAS Rocky Mountain Southwest regional chapter. She provided visionary leadership for 2023’s Super Bowl LVII played at State Farm Stadium, overseeing public affairs for the city of Glendale and serving the entire state on the AZ Super Bowl Host Committee’s communications team. That Super Bowl broadcast became the most-watched telecast ever.
Her dedication to community service as a journalist earned her the Arizona Governor’s Council Award for outstanding service to the community and a spot as an inductee in the prestigious Silver Circle of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter. For 10-years, she volunteered by leading all marketing efforts for Blake’s Miracle Foundation, raising more than $300,000 dollars for free music therapy for children in Phoenix hospitals. A lifelong swimmer, her passion to increase awareness about drowning dangers is driven by her vivid experience of rescuing a child drowning at a city pool when she was a lifeguard and later, two children drowning at a hotel pool. She uses her media relations-savvy to garner public service media segments about drowning prevention, inclusive of The TODAY show, CBS Morning Show and national parenting magazines.
Silver Circle Honoree
2003
Bill Buckmaster
Bill Buckmaster has interviewed more than five thousand newsmakers and has earned the reputation as Tucson’s most trusted voice for news and information. Beginning his career in 1969, he edited three monthly trade magazines based in Phoenix and went on to serve as a broadcast editor for the Associated Press. Buckmaster moved on to news director spots in Sierra Vista, Arizona, Visalia, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
He quickly became a fixture with television anchor positions at KICU-TV, San Jose-San Francisco and at KUAT-TV, PBS-Tucson. As the driving force behind KUAT-TV’s “Arizona Illustrated,” the iconic Arizona PBS news and public affairs program, Buckmaster created the broadcast “town square” for the issues that matter most to Southern Arizona residents.
His dedication to the community has not gone unnoticed. The Tucson Chapter of the American Advertising Federation named Bill its 2011 Golden Mic Award Recipient. In 2010, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department presented Bill with its highest civilian honor, The Citizen Medal. Over the past two decades, he has earned five individual Emmy® Award nominations, and in 2003 was inducted into Silver Circle of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He’s earned an Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Achievement Award, and a best of Tucson award from Tucson Lifestyle Magazine. Another welcomed honor was Bill Buckmaster’s name on an asteroid—only one other broadcaster has had such an honor, the legendary Walter Cronkite.
In 2010, Bill formed Bill Buckmaster Communications, L.L.C., which produces the Buckmaster Show. In 2015, Bill was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame by the Arizona Broadcasters Association. Also in 2015, The Tucson Weekly named Bill Tucson’s Best Radio Talk Show Host. In August of 2016, Bill was inducted into the Nevada Broadcast Hall of Fame by the Nevada Broadcasters Association honoring his radio news reporting in Las Vegas in the 1970’s.
Bill is a graduate of the University of Arizona and earned his Master of Education degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Bill has an Honorable Discharge from the United States Army.
Bill and his wife Ann have been married for 44 years and together they have traveled the world, visiting 100 countries, all 50 states and most of Canada’s provinces. Along the way, they have collected memories, experiences, and a better understanding of the world.
Silver Circle Honoree
1998
Don Burgess
Don Burgess retired in July 1998 after fourteen years at KUAT-TV, the last eight years as General manager of KUAT Radio and Television, now Arizona Public Media at the University of Arizona. Don graduated with a B.A. from the University of Nebraska and received a M.S. degree in Radio and Television from Syracuse University. Don’s first job in 1961 was a cameraman for commercial station WJRT in Flint, Michigan. Later that year he moved to the Auburn Studios of the Alabama ETV as Producer Director and then Production Manager. In 1964 he became Program Manager at KAET-TV at Arizona State University and Assistant Professor of Mass Communications. While at KAET Don served as Vice President, Phoenix Chapter National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He worked for the WMVS-WMVT, Public TV stations in Milwaukee, WHYY in Philadelphia, and seven months as part of the transition team at NPR and in 1984 returned to Arizona in Tucson as KUAT Assistant General Manager and Director of Programming and Production. He was also Executive Producer for many of KUAT’s special program and series including “Halley’s Comet,” “Geronimo: The Final Campaign,” and several Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards including “The Desert by Design” and “The Desert Speaks-The Colorado River.” Don brought “The Desert Speaks” to KUAT. Over the years Don served on a number of Public Broadcasting committees and boards.
He was inducted into the Silver Circle in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter in 1998.
Silver Circle Honoree
2012
Paul Burt
Paul served as Sales Manager, Managing Director and Managing Editor for CBS Affiliate, KRQE Channel 13 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest chapter’s Silver Circle Society. Paul passed away in December 2022.
Silver Circle Honoree
2007
Frank Camacho
Frank Camacho spent 32 years as an Arizona broadcaster, both in radio and television. During that time Frank developed a reputation as a fair, solid reporter who cared deeply about his community and the people who allowed him to tell their story.
Over the years Frank’s assignments were as diverse as the population of the Greater Phoenix Area. As a young radio reporter at KTAR, he covered the hundred year floods which hit the valley twice in the late 1970’s.
After spending two years at the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Camacho returned to broadcasting, this time in television. He spent a combined 30 years as a reporter and anchor at KPHO-TV and then KTVK-TV in Phoenix. Among the major stories he covered were the Papal visit to Phoenix in 1987, the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, the Arizona Diamondbacks victory in the 2001 World Series and the visits of six Presidents of the United States to Arizona.
Frank also did extensive work examining the rise of street gangs in the Valley of the Sun. Among the most contentious issues he covered was that of undocumented immigrants.
Along the way, Frank was honored by a number of organizations for his contributions to the community. Among the awards he is most proud are the Golden Rule award from the Arizona Interfaith.Movement and official recognition as one of the century’s major Hispanic figures in Arizona by Governor Jane Dee Hull in 2000.
Camacho is one the rare breed of broadcasters who spent his entire career reporting in his home town.
Silver Circle Honoree
2006
Ted Capener
Ted Capener started in1958 as the Assistant Farm Program Director at KSL Radio. He covered agriculture and economic news for KSL for 6 years interviewing hundreds of farmers, ranchers and other business leaders in Utah, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming. Eventually Ted advanced to Corporate Vice President of KSL Radio and Television. In 1972 he went to Washington DC as Bureau Chief of Bonneville International Corporation’s News Bureau. In 1981 he returned to Salt Lake City as Senior Vice President in charge of news, public affairs and research for all of Bonneville’s properties. In 1985 he returned to his alma mater which was University of Utah as Vice President of University Relations overseeing KUED TV and KUER FM Radio. In 1985 he began to host the weekly KUED program Civic Dialogue continuing for 21 years. Ted is still on the air, hosting a show called Utah Conversations with Ted Capener.
Silver Circle Honoree
2004
Rudy Casillas
Rudy Casillas is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in radio and television. He began his career as a news photographer for Tucson’s NBC affiliate, KVOA in 1978. He also served as an editor and producer for the PBS station, KAET Channel 8, in Tempe, for three years. He eventually returned to Tucson as production manager for the start-up of independent station KDTU, now KTTU Channel 18. In 1989 he started at KUAT as a senior producer and director and in 1999, was named program manager. In 2004, Rudy was promoted to assistant general manager. Casillas also served as a volunteer consultant for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) fundraising projects and chair of the National Educational Television Association Program Council.
The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducted him into the prestigious Silver Circle Society, in 2004. To be selected, individuals must have served in broadcasting for more than 25 years and must have made major contributions to the industry.
After 18 years Casillas left KUAT -TV6, in June of 2007 for Arlington, Virginia. He is a senior director for PBS.
Silver Circle Honoree
2008
Tom Chauncey
Tom Chauncey was born in Houston, Texas. In 1926, at the age of 13, he hopped a freight train, arriving in Arizona with an elder brother. He went to work as a page in the Adams Hotel in Phoenix, where another brother was the manager. There he met Arizona Senator Carl Hayden, who encouraged him to pursue an education or establish a trade. Taking his advice, Tom began an apprenticeship with a Phoenix jeweler, and in the early 1940’s, launched Tom Chauncey Jewelers.
He then bought the radio station KPHO in Phoenix, with his friend, the cowboy star Gene Autry, in the first of several such joint ventures. In 1948, Mr. Chauncey became the general manager of another radio station, KOOL, which later became KOOL Radio-Television. They also acquired it a few years later. As owner of the station, he greatly influenced the direction of local and national television for more than thirty years. He was responsible for introducing the first female anchor to Arizona television, and he played a major role in airing the Kennedy-Nixon presidential debates. Mr. Chauncey was a vigorous supporter of expanding the evening news, first from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. In 1982, he was the most vocal among executives of CBS affiliates urging that the evening news expand from 30 to 60 minutes. In the early 1950’s, they also started KOLD-TV in Tucson. Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication (1984) owes its name to Mr. Chauncey’s longtime association with Walter Cronkite. He is a member of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Sliver Circle Society. He began selling his television holdings in the late 1970’s.
Tom was also a Hereford cattle rancher, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who raised horses for the White House. He was introduced to Arabian horses by his second wife, Dorothy (Deedie) Wrigley Rich, a member of the Wrigley gum family of Chicago. In 1969 he bought an Arabian horse, Naborr, with singer, Wayne Newton and paid the record sum of $150,000 for it. He also owned the Arabian stallion Kharben, one of only two Triple Crown winners. In the early 1980’s, he started selling his Arabian horses and collaborated with Sotheby’s auction house in New York to hold a joint sale of Arabian horses and Old Master paintings at the Chauncey Arabian Horse Center in Scottsdale.
In 1983, Tom Chauncey received an Honorary Ph.D. from ASU, despite the fact that he had only received an eighth-grade education. A member and officer of many civic causes, he was a founding member of the Neurological Sciences Foundation and Barrow Neurological Institute, the President of the Community Council in Phoenix, and the chairman of numerous fund-raising events. Tom passed away in 1996 at the age of 83.
Silver Circle Honoree
2011
Joe Chitwood
Joe began his career as a videographer with the College of Agriculture at the University of Arizona in 1984. He then moved across campus to Arizona Public Media (KUAT Communications Group) where he ran the MultiMedia department, specializing in improvement of the educational process through emerging technologies, such as developing the UA’s Distance Learning Unit into a nationally known organization.
As assistant general manager for MultiMedia, Joe managed EBS (WiMax) frequencies, satellite, cable, fiber-optic, microwave, and Internet technologies, as well as satellite operations and productions with CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox Sports, and ESPN. He served as vice president for the National ITFS Association, Educational Broadband Service Advisory Board to Sprint/Nextel, and the Technology Policy Advisory Board to the City of Tucson’s Mayor and Council (TechPac). Joe chaired the UA’s Wireless Design Team (WiFi) and was a member of the UA Strategic Network Plan and Rates Initiative Study. For two five-year cycles he produced Telerounds, a nationally televised program via satellite, funded by the National Institutes of Health, which endowed the UA with the National Center for Neurogenic Communication Disorders.
For nearly a decade, Joe also was a facilitator in the Media Arts Professional Practices course, preparing students for a career in media arts. He was a valued jury member for the Media Arts Creative Advertising course, which leads students through a semester-long video promotion project that culminates in a juried presentation of their ideas.
After leaving Arizona Public Media, Joe was a Technical Manager for Fox Sports, IMG and other national networks.
As station manager for NAU-TV at Northern Arizona University, Joe managed three cable channels, an Internet site and Facebook channels. He helped produce Lumberjack sporting events and oversaw the transition from standard to high definition in two studios, master control, and a high-end HD production truck.
Joe has garnered many local, state and national awards, including Emmy® Awards for ABC’s Good Morning America Team Emmy® (Audio), and a Team Emmy® (Production Manager) for a PBS Children’s Special with Cokie Roberts. In 2011 he was inducted in to the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter-NATAS Silver Circle Society, which recognizes individuals who have served in the industry for at least 25 years.
Joe has spent many years volunteering with the Rotary Club of Tucson, assisting the organization in funding the Reading Seed program. He holds a BA in Radio & Television and a Master’s in Education from the UA.
Silver Circle Honoree
2022
Brian Cisek
Brian Cisek is the original Creative Services Director and Production Manager at AZTV 7, Arizona’s only locally-owned and operated independent station. Television and media were not Brian’s original plan for a career. He began his journey as an Astronomy/Physics major at the University of Arizona. The summer of his sophomore year he visited KUAT, the PBS station on campus, and was immediately hooked.
Brian began his television career in New York, where he worked as an engineer/operator at Staten Island Teleport before moving to production manager at WLIG, an independent station on Long Island. In 1995, Brian and his wife moved to Phoenix where he landed a part-time job at FOX10 working as master control, tape and audio operator. He then took a full-time job at KUTP and the new United Paramount Network (UPN) as a promotions producer and line-producer for Phoenix Suns games. He found himself back at FOX10 when FOX Broadcasting Company bought the station in 2001.
When KAZT-TV (AZTV) began in 2002, Brian was brought in to get the new start-up operating, and he never left. To Lynn Londen, station owner, “Brian has made himself indispensable as an integral part of all station operations and any success we achieve.” He is the creative force behind the station’s brand as well as wearing many other hats: producer, director, graphic designer, editor, photographer, promotions and outreach coordinator. “His willingness to provide whatever a client requests, and his desire to over-deliver has earned him incredibly strong relationships in the business,” says Rick Soltesz, station GM. Brian also developed and maintains the station’s internship program, and is proud to have helped in launching many promising careers. In addition, “Brian provides guidance to many independent program producers, helping to get their projects launched on broadcast TV,” according to Michael Petry, Creative Content Manager,
Brian is a board member with the Arizona Broadcasters Association, recipient of Vitalant’s Media Person for the Year award, and enjoys speaking with high school CTE students and educators about his broadcast knowledge and experiences. Brian is also a regular blood donor, supports local charities and enjoys coaching youth soccer. Brian and his wife Maureen have been married for 28 years and have three daughters: Nicole, Kathryn, and Emily.
Silver Circle Honoree
2002
Jack Clifford
Jack Clifford was born on Sept. 13, 1933, in Gary, Indiana. His mother was a homemaker and his father a railroad detective. Frequently bored in school, he was voted “The Least Likely to Succeed” by his high school classmates in Grand Rapids, Mich. (In 2015, their prediction became the title of his memoir.)
While attending Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, Jack helped build the school radio station, which got him interested in broadcasting. He worked for a local radio station as an overnight disc-jockey, where his show was called “Cruising with Clifford.”
In 1957, he went on vacation to Phoenix, Arizona to visit his parents and his sister and stayed, taking a job as the first sports anchor at KTVK-TV, Channel 3. In 1962 he began working at KTAR-TV, Channel 12, also in Phoenix, in the sales department and eventually became the station’s president and general manager. In 1974, he became president of a station in Atlanta, then two years moved to Sacramento to work. In 1977, he was hired by the Providence Journal Co. to help build its broadcast and cable holdings, which eventually put him in a position to help start the Food Network.
Clifford then worked in several media markets until he moved to Rhode Island with the Providence Journal Company, as executive vice president. He worked to develop the company’s electronic media business into one of the nation’s largest broadcast & cable television, programming companies. He later founded and was chairman of both the Food Network (1993) and Northwest Cable News.
Jack retired in 1997, moving back to Arizona, with his first wife, Marguerite, where they pursued a variety of passions, including competitive ballroom dancing and thoroughbred racing. In 2006, they bought a second home on Coronado Island, California. Marguerite passed away in October 2007 after 49 years together. He and his second wife, Beverly were married in 2010 and bought a home in Chula Vista better adapted to his decreased mobility from Parkinson’s Disease.
His many philanthropic endeavors included involvement with Arizona Opera, Challenger Space Center, ASU Cronkite Foundation & Endowment, Arizona Kidney Foundation, House of Broadcasting Museum and a host of other community activities.
Jack was a member of both the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle & Gold Circle Societies and a member of the Arizona Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame. Jack passed away on July 28, 2019 at his home in Chula Vista, California.
Silver Circle Honoree
2004
Mike Conlee
When it comes to television broadcasting in Arizona, Mike Conlee a 2004 Silver Circle inductee, has seen it all. His stellar career began in 1971 as a 16mm film editor at KGUN-TV in Tucson. From there, in 1979, he moved up the I-10 to Phoenix at KOOL-TV as a photographer and ENG editor. After a brief stint there, in 1980 he started working at KTVK-TV in Phoenix as an ENG videotape editor and photographer eventually rising through the ranks becoming Chief Photographer in 2001.
During the course of Mike’s career at KTVK-TV, he has covered countless local, national and international news and sports stories. Some of those stories include numerous Arizona Wildfires such as the Dude Fire, Rodeo-Chediski Fire, Cave Creek complex Fire, Wallow Fire and the Yarnell Hill Fire where 19 firefighters lost their lives. Presidential visits in Arizona that Mike has covered include President Donald Trump in 2016, President Barack Obama in 2009 and President George W. Bush in 2008.
Mike was also sent to cover the Republican National Convention for KTVK AND CNN in San Diego in 1996 well as the Democratic National Convention that same year for KTVK, ABC news and CNN. Other assignments handed to Mike included going to Hollywood, California on 7 different occasions where he provided live and tape coverage of the Oscars on 7 different occasions for KTVK-TV, ABC and CNN. 1994 was an especially busy year for Mike as he was assigned to cover the OJ Simpson trial in Los Angeles, CA. There was also the funeral for President Richard M. Nixon, NBA playoff action between the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns. In addition, Mike was sent to Portland, Oregon for coverage of U.S. figure skater Tonya Harding and the investigation surrounding the attack of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.
He also covered the devastating earthquake in Los Angeles, Northridge, I-5 and San Fernando Valley. In the summer 2003, Mike played a key role for the startup of local KMSB-TV’s first news program in Tucson. Still, the stories Mike has covered stretch far and wide, a list of some include: Arizona Diamondbacks World Series games 6 and 7 @ Bank one ballpark downtown Phoenix Arizona 2001. The funeral of Princess Diana from London in September 1997. 1993: NBA playoffs and championship series and many more.
Mike has distinguished himself having earned numerous awards such as Edward R. Murrow award, 2011 regional for video news documentary “prison break: the escape of Arizona’s Bonnie and Clyde,” Three Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards plus six more nominations, an Associated Press award for public service, an Arizona Education award for best series in education, commendation from Phoenix Chief of Police for drunk driving series, a Quality award from GTE spacenet for error free transmissions.
Mike was educated in Arizona having graduated from Rincon High School in Tucson and attended Phoenix College where in 2004 he earned an Associate Art Degree. Today, while no longer chief photographer Mike is still contributing in a significant way,5 days a week as a multi-media journalist for AZFamily.
Silver Circle Honoree
Ron Connor
Ron is a Colorado native and has lived in Phoenix since September 1, 1962. He attended The University of Denver, 1960-1961. Major: Mass Communications; Radio, Television, Film. His advisor was Noel Jordan. While there, Connor worked for Western Cine Service which he obtained through Student Placement and also worked later at Thomas J. Barbre Productions. He also attended Phoenix College. 1962-1966.
Ron started working at KTAR-TV January 19, 1963 as a film processor and editor of news film for the only weekend newscast at 10 P.M. Sunday. It guaranteed 4 hours at minimum wage which was $1.50/hr. Within two weeks he was asked to increase hours and edit news film on Thursdays and Fridays, in addition to shooting news film on those days and on weekends. Soon, Ron was assigned to shoot a documentary on the “new” Phoenix airport addition (now Terminal 2). Commercial work soon followed. Three months later he was assigned to film NBC Personalities in Burbank with the hostess of a local program.
In September of 1963 Connor was assigned to direct a 90-minute local Spanish language variety program, until the contract ran out in May of 1964. In summer, 1965, he transferred to engineering as an operating engineer. Later that summer, while still working in engineering he was asked by the Production Manager to produce a new opening for the weeknight 10 PM newscast, sponsored by the Valley National Bank (now Chase Bank). It required the earth rotating and matted over time-lapse clouds similar to the Gulf Oil Space Specials of the day. Later, Production wanted him back and he was assigned to a full-time direction position. This schedule altered his hours, so Ron had to “Withdraw Without Prejudice” from Phoenix College, just one class short of graduating lower division which he planned to complete later.
On a summer day in 1966, Connor was on duty when an NBC news crew from Burbank had covered a local story for the Huntly-Brinkley Report. They needed their facilities to send this report and it required two black and white film chains, two camera cards (artist renderings) and a camera on the reporter. They rehearsed it twice and it eventually ran ‘live.’
That same summer, Ron was assigned to direct a local teenage program. The following year this program was nominated for the Freedoms Foundation George Washington Citation and the American Legion Auxiliaries’ “Golden Mike” Award. It won both awards for 1966-67 and 1967-68. Two National Awards, two years in a row! No other station in the U.S. had done that before, or since.
Silver Circle Honoree
C.E. "Pep" Cooney
C.E. “Pep” Cooney was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, he learned his sense of community growing up in America’s heartland during the Great Depression. He loved and excelled at sports, particularly in wrestling and baseball, and earned the Eagle Scout badge as a Boy Scout. Pep attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Utah, majoring in marketing and advertising, two areas of study that would serve him well during his long, distinguished and successful career in the television industry. His imaginative marketing served him well in another area: he proposed to his wife, Cheri, in a TV commercial. His 44-year professional career began in advertising and program sales, earning him Salesman of the Year honors at 3M Corporation. He joined KRON-TV in San Francisco, eventually becoming general manager and then president of Chronicle Broadcasting. He moved to Phoenix in 1977 as president and general manager of KPNX-TV Channel 12 until 1995. During his tenure, television was taking on an entirely new direction through technology and growing as rapidly as the Valley of the Sun. Pep played a key role in the expansion and reach of both and his legacy remains as strong today as it did when he retired as president of KPNX Broadcasting Co. and senior vice president of Gannett Broadcasting in 1998. Over the years, Pep devoted much of his time and his energies to many civic, business and professional organizations. He served as United Way Campaign Chairman and on the Samaritan Health Service Board of Directors; the KPNX-TV Minority Advisory Board; the NCCJ Board of Directors, which he chaired from 1988-90; the First Amendment Coalition Board of Directors; the Theodore Roosevelt Council of the Boy Scouts of America Executive Board; the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors, for whom he served as director and president; the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University; Harris Trust Bank and United Blood Services, Inc. Two scholarship funds have been established in his name at Arizona State University, the C.E. Pep Cooney Leadership Scholarship at the Cronkite School and in the College of Public Programs. Pep received numerous awards including Distinguished Citizen from the Phoenix Union High School District; All City’s Honor Convocation; Distinguished Eagle Scout Award; Distinguished Achievement Award by the College of Public Programs at Arizona State University; and the Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’rith “Torch of Liberty Award.” He was a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society. Mr. Cooney passed away in 2003 at the age of 70.
Silver Circle Honoree
2008
Lin Sue Cooney
For more than 30 years, Arizona viewers have watched Lin Sue Cooney read the day’s headlines alongside co-anchor Mark Curtis on 12 News at 5, Arizona Nightly News at 6, and 12 News at 10 pm.
But this summer, there was a shake-up on the news desk! Lin Sue retired from television news to join the executive team Hospice of the Valley. The not-for-profit agency is Arizona’s premier provider of hospice and palliative care. Lin Sue is Director of Community Engagement, overseeing volunteers, fund development, business development, communications and creative services.
As a journalist, Lin Sue has been honored as the Valley’s “Best Anchor” by the Phoenix chapter of American Women in Radio and Television. She also has won numerous awards for her news reporting and community service efforts including nine Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards. She was the face of “Buddy Check 12,” a major breast health awareness program, and also served as the principal storyteller on “Hero Central,” a news series focusing on ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Through her “encore career” in the corporate world, she hopes to connect the community with the many innovative programs offered by Hospice of the Valley. It’s much more than just “end-of-life care.” Hospice of the Valley provides resources and supportive care for chronic illnesses such as dementia. It is Lin Sue’s sincere hope that every Arizona family knows where to come for comfort, dignity and quality care… as loved ones face the challenges of aging and living gracefully to the end.
Lin Sue graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science from Willamette University in Oregon. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
She enjoys helping numerous community causes and charities… and loves being able to spend more time these days, with her husband, four children, and very spoiled standard poodle.
Silver Circle Honoree
2018
Bruce Cooper
Bruce Cooper currently works as the sports director of 12 News Sports. He began working at the station in 1986 as a weekend sports editor. His duties and job titles evolved to include producer, reporter, fill-in anchor and weekend sports anchor.
Coop, as he is fondly called, is an absolute sports nut. As a result, he’s usually left outside the box when socializing with friends and family. Conversations concerning pop culture tend to render him clueless.
He is a native Arizonan and a graduate of Arizona State University. Coop has covered some of the biggest sporting events, like the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and BCS Championship games. He has also covered the game’s biggest stars.
He also has a passion for high school sports.
Silver Circle Honoree
2020
Felipe Corral
Known as “El Señor de Los Deportes,” Felipe Corral has been a fixture at Univision Arizona for almost 27 years. During that time, he has covered many of the major sporting events in Arizona and Mexico, including the Super Bowl, the NBA Playoffs, and the World Series. “I strongly believe what makes Felipe Corral, ‘El Señor de Los Deportes’ so well known and loved amongst his viewers, is that he is a simple, kind, generous and humble human being,” says long-time coworker Gina Santiago. “He travels all over the state covering children playing sports, interviewing not only the players, but their coaches and parents.”
But it is Corral’s work covering young athletes that sets him apart. “Felipe is a true believer that through his microphone he can support and motivate young athletes to keep fighting for their dreams,” says Univision Arizona anchor Heidi Renpenning. “He has used his microphone to motivate hundreds of young athletes. More than 20 years ago, he created the segment called ‘Promesas del Futuro,’ or ‘Future Promises,’ where he interviews young athletes and then follows them through their careers and some of them have made it all the way to the NFL, NBA, the Olympics and other national and international championships.”
One of those young athletes featured on “Promesas del Futuro” is now nationally ranked Taekwondo fighter Jenny Quezada, who was then a freshman at Arizona State and is currently training to be a part of the 2021 U.S Olympic Team. Former Arizona Cardinals player Rolando Cantú, who is now the Cardinals’ manager of International Business Relations, remembers meeting Corral at training camp with the Cardinals in June 2004. “Felipe is a pioneer for Arizona Spanish broadcast television. While playing for the Arizona Cardinals as a professional player, I began to see opportunities in broadcast communication, watching people like Felipe for when it came time to retire from the NFL in hopes these doors would be open for me.”
“Who doesn’t know Felipe Corral?’ asks Univision anchor Leon Felipe Gonzalez, rhetorically. “Going out with him on the street, he takes the time to greet everyone who recognizes him and asks for a photo or an autograph. He pays the same attention to both a janitor and the owner of an important Arizona sports team.
Gold & Silver Circle Honoree
Dr. John Craft
Dr. John Craft is Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University, having taught mass communications and broadcasting at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication for nearly 50 years, including a 12-year stint as Director of Graduate Studies, and was the senior faculty member of the School.
Prior to arriving in Arizona, Craft was a video quality engineer, camera operator, producer, and the Director of Staging and Lighting at station WOUB-TV in Athens, Ohio, the Director of Educational Television and Audio Visual Services for the Hancock County Schools in West Virginia, and the Director of Instructional Television at Ohio University. While at Arizona State University, he served as a media consultant for many corporations and school districts, including employment as Director of Video Services for Samaritan Health Services, corporate video consultant for Allied Signal and for Leisure World among others, and was a cable consultant for Tower Communications and for Times-Mirror Cable. He also has served as an educational media consultant for school districts in Arizona, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia.
In addition, he has produced EMMY® nominated television documentaries that have been shown on public television stations across the country, and has had his television programs distributed internationally, as well as having been broadcast on “The History Channel.” He is also the author of several media studies and broadcast textbooks as well as having articles published in Broadcasting and Billboard magazines. He has often been called on by many national and international broadcast and print media publications for his views on mass communication issues and has been a public speaker for the Arizona Humanities Council as well as for many other civic organizations.
Craft is a past trustee of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, has served as president of the regional chapter, and a current ex-officio member of the board, and the Gold and Silver Circle chair of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He has served as president of the Phoenix Chapter of the International Television Association, treasurer of the Phoenix Cable Television Forum, and is a member of the board of the House of Broadcasting.
In 2008 he was awarded the “Excellence in Broadcast Education Award” from the Arizona Broadcasters Association. In 2022 he was awarded the “Governor’s Award” for his exemplary service to the Academy and to the broadcast community — the prestigious EMMY® award given each year by the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Craft is a member of the NATAS Silver Circle and was inducted into the Gold Circle in 2012.
John is married to Adela (Lelis) Craft, who is a university professor of management and the Director of Education for the Phoenix based DAS Foundation. He is the father of Dr. Lauren Craft of Fallbrook, California and Jennifer Hurst-Craft of Chandler, Arizona as well as step-daughters Ana Lucia Monet of Montreux, Switzerland and Alejandra Fernandez of Madrid, Spain. His granddaughters include Abigail Hurst and Carlotta Fernandez.
Silver Circle Honoree
2019
Jay Crandall
For more than 30 years Jay Crandall has been a dedicated journalist willing to push the boundaries. His Emmy®-award winning work at KTVK-TV includes producing morning and evening newscasts, both hard hitting and feature stories and long-form specials. Working at Arizona’s top-rated independent station allowed him the freedom to take creative risks and use his skill as a wordsmith to produce Hollywood-style stories and special features.
Jay began his career as an intern and although he was first hired full-time as a videotape editor, his sights were set on writing and producing both behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera. As the producer of KTVK’s first ever morning newscast, Jay incorporated many elements which are now standard in morning television, such as the utilization of a weather person as an “out-and-about” reporter and bringing experts in studio as regular guest segments. Soon after, Jay led KTVK’s 5 p.m. newscast to the number one ratings spot. He then moved to special projects where he developed fast-paced celebrity, lifestyle and fashion news stories which not only helped define KTVK’s signature style but inspired colleagues as they moved on to produce nationally syndicated shows such as Extra and TMZ. Jay also developed and produced KTVK’s first and only political talk show, “Politics Unplugged,” which continues to broadcast on 3TV.
As a special projects producer Jay helped lead the transition to digital editing and crafted elements including the signature show open for Good Evening Arizona and unique segments like “Worth a Listen” featuring up and coming musicians. Jay produced several Emmy® nominated and winning specials including “The Lion King: Behind the Mask,” “Phoenix Rising,” “Granite Mountain Hotshots: Heroes and Heartbreak” and “Rachel’s Challenge.” In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Jay traveled to New Orleans where he produced and reported live on-the-scene and from the set providing residents with valuable information in the wake of that disaster.
Currently, Jay works as a Public Information Officer for the city of Glendale, Arizona where he continues to enterprise and produce stories for Glendale Media and the city’s social media platforms still seeing himself first and foremost as a journalist bringing viewers information to enrich their lives.
Silver Circle Honoree
2004
Mark Curtis
12 News Anchor
Name: Mark Curtis
About Me: I consider myself very blessed to be living and working in Phoenix.
Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia
City of Residence: Scottsdale
Current Position: Weeknight news anchor
Years with 12 News: Altogether, close to 21 years.. I was here through the 80’s left for Minneapolis and St. Louis and then came back in the mid 90’s.
College Graduated from: American University in Washington, D.C
Interests/Hobbies: Golf, Gardening
Favorite Music: Classic rock, Movie Soundtracks, Classical, and Country
Favorite Song: Born to Run
Favorite Books: Anything by Stephen King or James Patterson
Favorite Quotes: Carpe Diem- Sieze the Day
Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite Color: Black, Lavender
Favorite Travel Destination: Ocean City, Maryland
Pets: Olivia a Bouvier Des Flandres
Children: Lindsay, Blake and Sydney
Favorite Sports Teams: Now that I am no longer in sports I can openly root for all the home town teams, now I CAN be a “homer”
Favorite Moment in Broadcasting: Broadcasting from the Diamondbacks clubhouse the night they won the World Series!
Hidden Talent: I am learning to play the Bass Guitar
Why you decided to work in TV: I grew up In Washington and so the news was always on
Where else you have worked: San Diego, Washington D.C, Minneapolis, St. Louis
What you love about living in Arizona: I love love love the weather, I play golf and so I can play whenever I have time off. I also like working in my garden so something is always growing in our great weather.
First Story Reported: Muhammad Ali getting set to fight Joe Frazier
Awards Received: Six Emmy® Awards
Your First Job: Sports producer Washington D.C
What People Would Never Guess About You: I started off in pre-med and always wanted to be a doctor.
Your Heritage: Hungarian
Your Biggest Pet Peeve: Hypocrites
Your Prized Possession: My children
What I’m Passionate About: Protecting children from violence and predators
Dream Vacation: Golf trip with my family to Scotland
Silver Circle Honoree
2003
Rick D'Amico
While serving in the United States Air Force, he landed his first radio job as a disc jockey in Albany, Georgia. Upon leaving the military he worked at a number of radio stations in Ashtabula, Ohio – Battle Creek, Michigan-Erie, PA and in Cleveland, Ohio at WHK and became one of the pioneer radio personalities on WMMS. Rick advanced his career in radio in Michigan in management of several radio stations and part owner of one. After 19 years in radio, Rick decided to try his hand at television, and became a TV Weather caster for NBC and CBS affiliates in Lansing, Michigan. Tired of Midwest winters, in 1987 Rick landed the job as TV Weatherman at KSAZ-TV in Phoenix, Arizona.
Rick completed his meteorological education from Mississippi State University and was recruited by CBS News as the fill in weatherman on “The CBS Morning News” and “CBS This Morning”. Because of his work on CBS, Rick was promoted to News Anchor at KSAZ in Phoenix. In addition to his anchoring duties, he served as Editor of Business and Economic News, reported live from the Los Angeles riots, interviewed President Ronald Reagan, followed President Bill Clinton to Los Alamos, New Mexico, anchored and reported live from New York City and “Ground Zero” in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. He also followed the Arizona Diamondbacks to Yankee Stadium for the World Series anchoring his morning show from the Fox News Channel.
For 19 years until his retirement, Rick co-anchored, “Fox-10 Arizona Morning”. Rick also anchored The Fox-10 News at Noon. He had numerous reports on CNN and the Fox News Channel.
His Emmy® Award winning broadcasting career spanned more than 50 years in radio and television and print. He was inducted into the Silver Circle in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter in 2014. He is also the recipient of two Associated Press Awards for excellence in News Anchoring and is in two books about the beginning of Rock and Roll and Cleveland Radio. “Radio Daze, Stories from the Front in Cleveland’s FM Air Wars” by Mike Olszewski and “Rock & Roll and the Cleveland Connection” by Deanna R. Adams. Rick was honored by his High School by being inducted into the Wickliffe High School Hall of Fame. Rick D’Amico retired from Fox 10 Phoenix on August 1st of 2016.
He has helped raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for his favorite charities, The American Lung Association, The Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Arizona and Foster Children of Pinal County, Arizona. Rick D’Amico retired on August 1st of 2016.
Rick and his wife Ruth have been married since 1969. They have four children, twin boys, two daughters, and a granddaughter.
Silver Circle Honoree
2010
Jan D'Atri
Jan D’Atri is an Emmy-award winning television host and producer, radio talk show host, food writer, web video content creator and cookbook author. She is the longest running female on-air television personality in Arizona. She who currently co-hosts and is the food and lifestyle contributor for Arizona Midday on KPNX Channel 12.
She has maintained two parallel careers for nearly 40 years, both in television and in the food industry. Jan has owned two restaurants and a gourmet food company in Arizona and created an exclusive line of Italian Biscotti for QVC. Her cooking columns have appeared in print for more than 14 years and most recently she has created the social media cooking video series, The One Minute Kitchen© and The One Minute Kid’s Kidchen©, surpassing one half a million views.
Jan has new radio show on KTAR 92.3 FM, Dishin’ it Up with Jan D’Atri.
Jan’s passions are cooking and fly-fishing. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband John and their 24 adopted pets including her beloved brood of chickens.
Silver Circle Honoree
1999
Kent Dana
At five years-old, Kent Dana won the “Mr. Little Arizona” pageant at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix. The year was 1947. It was the first of many appearances for Kent in front of an audience of Arizonans over the next 60 years.
After studying at Brigham Young University and Arizona State University, Kent worked at KOOL Radio and TV in 1972. He wrote and delivered news spots on Saturdays and Sundays while managing a gas station. He eventually landed a full-time position as an anchor for KOOL-TV and then moved to Channel 12 in 1979 where he would be the mainstay evening anchor the next 26 years. During that time, Kent covered national political conventions, the Evan Mecham impeachment, wildfires, the Oklahoma City bombing and the O.J. Simpson trial. He was honored with four Emmy® Awards and considers his greatest accomplishment his work with Wednesday’s Child. Kent began the weekly series in 1983, profiling children available for adoption and raising awareness about Arizona’s foster system.
In 2005, Kent moved to KPHO Channel 5 as the station’s evening anchor for five years. Throughout his career over three decades, Kent’s easy-going personality and good humor could disarm any interviewee and make coworkers feel they had a confidant and friend by their side.
Kent was the second of three generations of broadcasters in Arizona. During the 1930’s to 1950’s, Kent’s father Joe Dana was a radio announcer for KOY radio and host of a western variety show on Channel 5. Kent’s son, Joe Dana, is an investigative reporter for 12 News. Kent passed away in December 2022.
Silver Circle Honoree
2002
Dan Davis
Dan is a four-time Emmy® winner who has spent his entire career in Arizona. He began his career at KOAI TV (later KNAZ) in Flagstaff, spent 30 years at KTVK TV and is an original member of the Good Morning Arizona Show. He left in 2009, and later began producing and hosting the AAA Highroads travel show in Phoenix and Tucson, as well as Denver, Charlotte and Raleigh. He’s done everything from breaking news to rappelling down a waterfall in Maui to cruising the Rhine through Germany and France.
Silver Circle Honoree
2002
Rick DeBruhl
Rick DeBruhl’s Arizona television career began in 1978 when he arrived at what was then KTAR-TV, Channel 12. His first assignment as weekend sports anchor and weekday news reporter set the tone for the rest of his career: an eclectic mix of everything. During his 31 years at Channel 12 Rick both anchored and reported. His reporter beats ranged from environmental to political to consumer. When Rick arrived at the station, they were still shooting film on CP-16 cameras. When he left, the digital era was in full swing.
Rick’s stories took him from the depths of crawling through the Kartchner Caverns to the heights of flying an Air Force fighter jet. He traveled from Europe (covering the ordination of a new bishop), to Korea (telling the story of children who came to Phoenix for heart operations).
Most importantly, Rick was fortunate to work with and learn from an amazing collection of reporters, producers and photographers who passed through the halls of Channel 12. Those collaborations resulted in a wide variety of awards including three Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards.
Rick’s television work wasn’t limited to Phoenix. Both during his time at what became KPNX and after, he spent decades covering auto racing for networks like ESPN, NBC, Speed and Fox including nine years as part of ABC’s Indy 500 broadcast team. His work continues as the voice of the Barrett Jackson Collector Car auctions on the Motor Trend Network.
After leaving KPNX, Rick worked as the Chief Communication Officer for the State Bar of Arizona and now has his own communication consulting company.
Silver Circle Honoree
2012
Rod Decker
Rod Decker was a 36-year veteran of KUTV in Salt Lake City, spending most of his time as a political reporter.
The flamboyant Decker was known for his prolific output and high-volume reporting style.
Decker was raised in Salt Lake City. He graduated from East High School and the University of Utah. He attended graduate school at the University of Chicago and spent a year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
During the Vietnam War, Decker was a captain in the U.S. Army and served as an intelligence officer in South Vietnam.
Prior to joining KUTV in 1980, Decker worked as a columnist for the Deseret News.
Silver Circle Honoree
Chuck Deen
Bio coming soon
Silver Circle Honoree
1996
Bill Denney
William (Bill) Forrest Denney was born on December 28, 1931 in Paris, Illinois. He played baseball at Phoenix’s North High School and pitched in the minor leagues and the semi-pro Cotton Kings team from Casa Grande, AZ.
Bill worked for two decades at KPNX-TV Channel 12 and 10 years at KSAZ-TV, Channel 10, both in Phoenix. He was honored with Silver Circle Society Lifetime Membership in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1996. He won First Place in the Arizona Associated Press Awards for his “Olympic Dragnet” work in 1985. After retiring in 1998, he did some commercials and filled in as a play-by-play announcer for the Arizona Diamondback Baseball team.
Bill passed away following pancreatic cancer surgery, on August 28, 2000 at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife, Joan, his five children and his grandchildren. A public memorial was held for Bill at the Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State University.
Silver Circle Honoree
2005
Ray Depa
Ray Depa served in broadcasting for more than 40 years including 27 in news and 15 as general manager.
A graduate of University of Nebraska School of Journalism, Ray began his career in Omaha at WOWT. It was there where he worked his way from reporter to Associate News Director over a decade. In 1980 he moved to KGUN in Tucson as News Director. After a departure back to the Midwest, he took the helm at KGUN again in the late eighties.
Ray went on to serve as General Manager in El Paso/Las Cruces, Honolulu and Huntsville before his retirement in 2008. Ray is part of the Silver Circle Society in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Silver Circle Honoree
2016
Joe Diaz
New Mexicans have been turning to the Emmy® Award winning Action 7 News Chief Meteorologist Joe Diaz for a full and accurate forecast for almost three decades.
Joe has been part of the Action 7 News team for more than 28 years. He originally worked at Action 7 News from 1979 to 1989, and then returned in 1997.
He has racked up numerous awards since then, including the New Mexico Broadcasters Association’s “Best Weathercast” in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2015. He also won The Associated Press “Best Weathercast” award in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Joe also updates regular weather webcast to our KOAT moble app and KOAT.com.
One of Joe’s most memorable — and most frightening — moments as a television meteorologist came in 1989 when, while working for a Houston station, he was sent to cover Hurricane Hugo.
“We were broadcasting from Charleston, South Carolina, as this category-4 hurricane came on shore,” Diaz says. “As we took shelter inside the lobby of the Ramada Inn, a wall caved in and destroyed our $50,000 video camera. Fortunately, no one was hurt.”
Joe is a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and is the first in New Mexico (and 68th nationwide) to be named a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist. This prestigious designation is an upgrade of Joe’s previous AMS Seal of Approval.
Joe also holds the seal of approval from the National Weather Association (NWA).
Joe married his wife, an Albuquerque native, in 1981. They have two adult sons and a very spoiled dog.
Biking, running and golfing with his sons are among his favorite ways to spend personal time, along with an occasional triathlon, are among his favorite ways to spend personal time. Some of the more grueling events he has entered include The La Luz Trail Run up Sandia Mountain and a Half-Ironman event.
Silver Circle Honoree
2016
Dennis Dilworth
Dennis worked at KTVK-TV3 in Phoenix, Arizona. He filled roles as a Director and News Director. He is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society and served as president of the chapter in 1999.
Silver Circle Honoree
2020
Jennifer Doan
Jennifer Doan is proof of the adage that if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.
Jennifer Doan started her career while in college as a Graphics Operator at KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City, where she worked her way up to a Production Assistant. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, Doan moved to Phoenix in 1997 to take a job as a News Management Intern at KPHO-TV. After taking a year off from broadcasting to travel and perform around the world with Up With People, Doan returned to Phoenix in 1999 to join KSAZ FOX 10, where she is now the weekday Morning Show Producer from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“Jennifer can’t sit still,” says co-worker Jeff Moriarty. “It could be blamed on her constant influx of chai tea lattes, but honestly it is rooted in her unwavering desire to help others however she can. She is the kind of person who constantly works to lift others up in both large and small ways. In the often overly competitive world of television, she works to support people and help them advance their careers. In my role as Digital Director, I worked to bring a lot of new ideas into FOX 10, many of which met with resistance by the veteran talent and employees. Not Jennifer. She loves trying new things and reaching out beyond her comfort zone. Television has been going through incredible changes the past few years, and rather than rest on the ‘way we’ve always done it,’ Jennifer incorporates new tools, new ideas, and tells stories in new ways. That energy and creativity was evident in her show, which is what it made it so successful.”
“Jennifer is the heart and soul of Fox 10's Morning Show,” says Moriarty. “She knows everyone in the Valley and can find an expert or a place to expand a story or topic. Give her a blank planning sheet and she can send out 12 texts and fill a two hour show as fast as she can type on her Blackberry. It’s more than just filling time, though. Jennifer loves the people who make up the stories she’s trying to tell.”
In addition to producing “Arizona Morning” on Fox10, Doan is deeply involved in the community. She serves on the board of directors for Phoenix Sister Cities Commission, VNSA (a Phoenix non-profit that collects used books and holds one sale a year to benefit Arizona nonprofits) and the Reach Out Alumni Assistance Network, which raises thousands of dollars every year to help Up With People alumni across the globe who have found themselves in difficult situations.
For the past nine years, Doan has served on the Board of Governors for the National Association of Television Arts Sciences - Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter. She is the current secretary and its former Second Vice President and Chairperson/Producer of its annual, regional Emmy® Awards gala.
Silver Circle Honoree
2003
Roger Downey
I have always had a powerful interest in gathering information, both in my formal education and in the informal education we all experience as we go through life. I think that it has been my greatest gift. And that’s why I started My Healthcare Report. The interest in information fueled my career in the media, then with the Arizona Medical Board as the Media Relations Officer, and now at GlobalMed and the field of telemedicine. And before that with NBC News and KPHO-TV in Phoenix, the CBS affiliate. It helps that I am able to communicate what I have learned with my voice and writing skills.
Having spent more than 30 years on a radio mike or in front of a TV camera, I was placed in situations where quick-thinking was essential, but that’s only half the skill needed. You also have to be able to take the information you know and express it in a meaningful and understandable way. In the business, they call it broadcast writing. Read enough news stories on the air and you get very good at storytelling and identifying REAL news.
Silver Circle Honoree
2016
Deborah Sedillo Dugan
Deborah Sedillo Dugan has spent 35 years as an award-winning television journalist and communications professional in Washington, D.C. and most recently, the Rocky Mountain region.
She has written, produced and reported extensively on hundreds of community issues, such as homelessness, domestic violence, and missing children. She has also reported on major league sporting events including Super Bowl Fan Fest, NCAA College Football Playoffs, and MLB Fan Fest, to name a few. Known for her community activism, Sedillo Dugan was selected out of thousands of nominations as a “community hero” to carry the Olympic Torch in 1996 in Washington, D.C.
For the past 11 years, Sedillo Dugan has worked for the City of Phoenix, the sixth largest city in the U.S., as PHXTV’s Station Manager. PHXTV, formerly Phoenix Channel 11, the city’s cable station, has won numerous industry awards under her leadership. She first began with the City as a PHXTV freelance reporter, working her way up to PHXTV executive producer. After four years, she was promoted to station manager in 2005. Her public relations background includes stints as spokeswoman/public relations manager for Arizona Qwest Communications in Arizona and spokesperson for U S WEST in New Mexico during some of the worst wildfires the state had ever seen. In 1999, The Albuquerque Journal named her the spin goddess of public relations.
Prior to Qwest Communications, Sedillo Dugan was a spokeswoman/reporter for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in Washington, D.C. She worked on national issues such as equal pay for women and the working women vote campaign and also marketed labor documentaries for PBS.
Sedillo Dugan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish from The American University in Washington, D.C. She also attended La Javeriana in Bogota Colombia. Her professional career began in our nation’s capital, starting as a news assistant for WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in D.C. From there, her career took off and she worked as an On-Camera Host for WETA-TV, the PBS station in Washington, D.C. and as Community Affairs Director for WTTG-TV, Fox Television. In addition, Sedillo Dugan hosted a series of television weekly programs for the U.S. Catholic Conference, worked on a presidential campaign as a media coordinator; and reported for a nationally syndicated Hispanic television show.
Her awards include a 2012-13 Rocky Mountain Emmy® for “Online with Mayor Greg Stanton” and a 1986 NATAS Washington D.C. Emmy® nomination for her work on missing children. For this same topic on missing children, she also received the 1986 Media Award of Excellence. In D.C., she served as a Board of Governor for their NATAS Chapter and chaired a national town hall meeting on media literacy. She has won many Telly Awards for her exceptional writing, reporting and hosting at PHXTV.
Beyond her professional career, Sedillo Dugan has dedicated herself to issues close to home such as lupus: her husband lives with Systematic Lupus Erythematosus and so, she served on the Lupus Foundation of Greater Washington, creating a public awareness campaign about this chronic illness. For numerous years, she committed her time to co-hosting the local PBS KAET Pledge Drive in Phoenix.
She is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and has served for several years on the Hispanic Women’s Conference executive team. Currently she serves as a board member for the Arizona Latino Media Association (ALMA) and has mentored countless college students pursuing journalism careers at nearby ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She is proud of her two adult daughters, Christina a staff writer/reporter for People Magazine and Lauren, a student in health and wellness. Finally, she has been married for 31 years to her college sweetheart Doug Dugan, a former professional soccer player.
Silver Circle Honoree
2009
Bruce Dunbar
Bruce (Robert) Dunbar, age 61, was born in San Diego, CA. He graduated from San Diego State and was a member of the San Diego State golf team. Bruce had an award-winning career in broadcast journalism being recognized with 6 Emmy® Awards, 4 Reporter of the Year awards and was a member of the prestigious NATAS Silver Circle Society. He started his career in radio and later became a news anchor and reporter in Fort Wayne, IN; Norfolk, VA; Tulsa, OK; Oklahoma City, OK and Louisville, KY. Bruce and his wife Kathy moved to Phoenix in 1995 where he worked at Fox News channel KSAZ until his retirement in July of 2009. Bruce was an avid collector of Disney Art as well as 1st edition and rare books by a variety of authors. He also loved animals and in particular his best little buddy, Mickey, their cockatiel. Bruce passed away in 2010 at the age of 61, following a courageous battle with cancer.
Silver Circle Honoree
2010
Daniel Duncan
Bio coming soon.
Silver Circle Honoree
1992
Bob Ellis
Bob was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He served in the U.S. Army. When he was discharged, he visited family in Phoenix and ended up staying to attended Arizona State College (now ASU). He graduated in 1953, with a degree in Speech. That same year he started working at Arizona’s first radio station, KOY, as an announcer. That’s where he met his boss, and future wife, Frankie. They were married soon after and had three children.
In 1959 he went back to ASU, which had just become a university. There, he helped lead the start of KAET, which was launched and went on the air in 1961, as part of National Education Television, supported by the Ford Foundation. KAET became a Public Broadcasting (PBS) affiliate in 1967. Bob was also involved with the Phoenix Television Academy, now the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), serving in many roles, including president. He remained at KAET as general manager until his retirement in 1989. Immediately after his retirement, he accepted a part-time assignment to work in the University Relations Office and eventually took charge of organizing university retirees into a viable force. Not only was Ellis a former staff member, but he also had served on the faculty and thus could represent both groups of retirees. He remained in this role for several years until his retirement.
Bob was inducted as a charter member of the NATAS Silver Circle in 1992 and is a past president of the chapter.
Silver Circle Honoree
2001
Chuck Emmert
For more than 40 years, Chuck Emmert has been on the leading edge of the digital video journalist revolution. Passionate about videography, Chuck led a talented group of video journalists in Phoenix that prided itself on fair and accurate storytelling with a flair for the creative elements, garnering more than 100 Emmy® Awards in the process. A natural born storyteller, Emmert has been the principle videographer on overseas documentary projects including segments in hostile areas like North Korea. Chuck is credited with pioneering helicopter news coverage in one of the country’s first live airborne camera platforms with legendary pilot Jerry Foster of SKY-12 at KPNX in Phoenix. Then, in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, he directed another great team of video story teller’s that produced a yearly thirteen-episode television series. ‘Arizona Wildlife Views’ that aired on PBS. The series chronicled the diverse native animal life in the desert southwest.
Chuck continued to implement this storytelling-driven programming philosophy at know99 Television in Phoenix, a youth and education orientated cable channel. This opportunity offered the chance to create a video journalist mentoring program, crafting an advanced videography training curriculum for gifted high school and college student video journalists. Chuck is in the classroom as well, serving as adjunct professor in videography with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication.
Now, Chuck is back to shooting and editing video content in a new era of storytelling, serving as a videographer for the nation’s fifth-largest city, Phoenix. He is the principal content creator for the city’s Instagram account, attracting more than 62,000 followers in the process.
Chuck has been involved with the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, having served as a Trustee for the organization as well as a member of the National Awards Committee.
Personally, Chuck has been married to Patty for more than 35 years, raising three children. A competitive tennis player, Chuck also enjoys bicycling, board games, food and music.
Silver Circle Honoree
2009
Tony Escobar
A native Phoenician Anthony Escobar Jr. was raised in a small South Phoenix barrio and graduated from Alhambra High School in 1981. He was introduced to video and film production early on with Alhambra’s Film Communication courses and also at his church, Phoenix First Assembly, where Tony worked on the Easter and Christmas Pageants.Unable to afford college, Tony considered enlisting in the military, but just before his appointment with an Air Force Recruiter, Tony’s dad suggested he go up the street and apply at Channel 5, KPHO. Success! Tony was hired at the age of 18 as station “runner.” He always kept “ an eye” on the studio, especially during the Wallace and Ladmo taking. In 1984, a dream became reality when he became a full time studio camera operator. In 1986, Tony became KPHO’s weekday floor manager, a position he held for many years. Tony worked with local news greats such as Roger Downey, Linda Turley, Stu Tracey, June Thompson, Cary Pfeffer, Kent Dana and Catherine Anaya. He also directed the Wallace & Ladmo Show where he began his working partnership with producer/director Sharon Kelley, a partnership that continued for more than 2 decades.In 1994, Channel 5’s parent company, Meredith Corporation, named Tony their “Broadcaster of the Year” out of 2,000 employees for his work ethic and commitment to customer service.In 1996, Tony worked his way into the commercial production department where remained for some ten years. There he shot and edited commercials and segments for the morning show, “Better Arizona.”As CBS 5’s 6-time winner of “Employee of the Quarter,” Tony has weathered it all, from analog to digital and to Hi-Def. He always adapted to the changing face of broadcasting and remained committed to the industry he loved. After more than 30 years in television, Tony left his beloved CBS 5 and now helps with his family’s 2 restaurants in the Phoenix area, Mi Familia Mexican Food Restaurants.Native Phoenician Anthony Escobar Jr. was raised in a small South Phoenix barrio and graduated from Alhambra High School in 1981. He was introduced to video and film production early on with Alhambra’s Film Communication courses and also at his church, Phoenix First Assembly, where Tony worked on the Easter and Christmas Pageants.Unable to afford college, Tony considered enlisting in the military, but just before his appointment with an Air Force Recruiter, Tony’s dad suggested he go up the street and apply at Channel 5, KPHO. Success! Tony was hired at the age of 18 as station “runner.” He always kept “ an eye” on the studio, especially during the Wallace and Ladmo taking. In 1984, a dream became reality when he became a full time studio camera operator. In 1986, Tony became KPHO’s weekday floor manager, a position he held for many years. Tony worked with local news greats such as Roger Downey, Linda Turley, Stu Tracey, June Thompson, Cary Pfeffer, Kent Dana and Catherine Anaya. He also directed the Wallace & Ladmo Show where he began his working partnership with producer/director Sharon Kelley, a partnership that continued for more than 2 decades.In 1994, Channel 5’s parent company, Meredith Corporation, named Tony their “Broadcaster of the Year” out of 2,000 employees for his work ethic and commitment to customer service.In 1996, Tony worked his way into the commercial production department where remained for some ten years. There he shot and edited commercials and segments for the morning show, “Better Arizona.”As CBS 5’s 6-time winner of “Employee of the Quarter,” Tony has weathered it all, from analog to digital and to Hi-Def. He always adapted to the changing face of broadcasting and remained committed to the industry he loved. After more than 30 years in television, Tony left his beloved CBS 5 and now helps with his family’s 2 restaurants in the Phoenix area, Mi Familia Mexican Food Restaurants.
Silver Circle Honoree
1998
Mark Eubank
Mark Eubank joined the KSL-TV channel 5 Television news team in 1990 as their chief meteorologist. Prior to KSL, he was employed as a meteorologist for KUTV channel 2 in Utah, a position he had held since 1967. Eubank began his meteorology career at age 24 in Redding, California, at KRCR-TV. He attended UCLA and graduated from the University of Utah in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology. Eubank also owned and operated a weather consulting firm, WeatherBank, Inc. for 20 years.
Eubank was famous for wearing a white sports coat throughout a broadcast preceding or during a snow fall.
Indian weather lore such as a Thunder Moon and a Sun dog was often used in his broadcasts.
He was known for his extreme enthusiasm for weather that would usually result in a variety of odd sound effects including: Bing, bowg, boink, boing, boiiiiing, bowk, hah, haaah!, (tearing sound), (squashed sound), ohhhh, goooomph, ziiiing, zoooom, (sound of car stopping suddenly), phhhht, eeerrrrrrumble-rumble-rumble, (slurping sound), sheeewhhhh, oh-oh, vooomph, voom, wonk, vooop, whhktw, waawaa, waaaa, waaam, and zeeek.
“Never trust a split jet stream” was an often repeated phrase during his weather reports.
Eubank also quoted John Ruskin regularly, saying “There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”
Eubank was the chief meteorologist of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
On November 29, 2006, Eubank signed off the air for the final time. He passed his job and white coat to his son Kevin Eubank.
Silver Circle Honoree
2005
Stan Everett
Stan Everett was the Executive Director of KCEC-TV in St. George, Utah. The station is Washington County’s Community Education channel, based on the Dixie State College Campus. Stan was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Silver Circle Society in 2005. The Station was started in 1995. and covered an average of 63 college and high school sporting events each year, when he was inducted. Programming also includes college events and forums, concerts, and community events and meetings. At the time of his induction, Everett stated, “I am honored to be inducted and held in association with some of the giants of our industry.”
Silver Circle Honoree
2018
Tom Fergus
“When you’re on time in television, you’re late,” intoned a communications professor from the front of an Illinois State University classroom in 1982. “And when you’re late — you’re fired.”
If you’ve ever tried to keep up with FOX10’s Tom Fergus, you know that he took professor Wayne Weber’s words to heart in that long-ago classroom.
Tom takes long strides, and he likes to be early.
Fergus scrambled his way out of a loving family of ten children in Prospect Heights, Illinois, and quickly became a crack shooter and editor in Illinois State’s communications department.
Professional recognition came early.
When a call came to ISU from Peoria, Illinois station WRAU-TV for a freelance cameraman to catch up with President Reagan on a visit to his homestead in Dixon, Illinois, Tom got the nod, and was the only one-man band in a pack of network reporters to catch the President’s attention for a soundbite.
WRAU (now WHOI) wisely snatched him up, and, immediately upon graduating, Fergus was on his way to Peoria. He distinguished himself there by quickly rising to assistant chief photographer, and was soon hired away by the crosstown competition, WEEK-TV. While at WEEK, Tom continued to sharpen his skills, and won the Illinois Valley Press Club’s Best Photographer award.
Unlike his nine siblings, Tom couldn’t WAIT to get out of the midwestern cold, and, on a bleak January day in 1987, packed his un-air-conditioned Ford EXP with everything he owned, and set out from Central Illinois on the Mother Road, for he was the newest hire at KTSP-TV in Phoenix.
It proved to be a good fit.
During Tom’s more than 30 years at the station, he’s seen the name change from KTSP to KSAZ, the affiliation from CBS to FOX, and the gear from 3/4” videotape to today’s digital rigs.
His enthusiasm for the job has never waned, and his ability to quickly embrace every new industry twist has garnered him multiple Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards, and two National Association of programming Executives IRIS Awards. Tom has freelanced for ESPN, FOX Sports, and CNN, and has logged thousands of miles in SkyFox and its predecessors, covering every corner of Arizona.
Tom has Super Bowls, the World Series, and the NBA Finals under his belt, and, for many years, he’s been answering the early bell on FOX10 Arizona Morning. In fact, he’s now as likely to be seen in front of the camera as behind it, as his solid on-air reporting skills are often put into play on the show.
He and his wife Linda have three grown children— Denton, Collin, and Mary, as well as one dog that Tom enjoys, and another that’s a pain in the neck.
Among the most rewarding aspects of Tom’s outstanding career might be his long tenure as a Faculty Associate in The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University, where he began teaching basic videography, and now delivers a self-created sports-videography course.
Tom is beginning his eleventh year at ASU and has been recognized by the University as Outstanding Faculty Associate.
Among his many accomplishments, Tom can now count hundreds of working, enthusiastic videographers, reporters, and producers, spread out all over the world.
Tom’s reach is much longer, and his influence much stronger than he could have dreamed while sitting under Wayne Weber’s teaching at Illinois State.
For this reason, among many, we celebrate the induction of Tom Fergus into the Silver Circle.
Silver Circle Honoree
2006
Bud Foster
Bud was born in Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from Ball State University where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration. His graduate studies brought him to Arizona. He studied journalism at Arizona State University (ASU) and political science at the University of Arizona.
He has spent more than 40 years in the news industry in Arizona, having started in the studios of KAET at ASU in 1973. He quickly moved to NBC Channel 12 in Phoenix and at KOOL-TV, the Phoenix CBS affiliate. He came to Tucson in 1980 as an anchor for Channel 4. He moved to KOLD News 13 in 1994 as the anchor of the evening broadcasts.
Bud was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame in October 2009. He was also honored with an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2010, one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. Bud has been nominated four times for an Emmy® Award and won 30 other awards, including several Arizona Press Club Awards. He has been inducted into the prestigious Silver Circle by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his many years of contributions to the television industry.
Bud brings credibility, market experience and knowledge of the city to KOLD-TV. He enjoys getting to meet new people every day and getting to wrestle with the issues of the city and surrounding communities.
His participation in the world of news is equaled by his participation in the community. He’s served on a dozen different boards, including Amity, the Brewster Center, the Juvenile Diabetes Association and Parent Connection.
Bud said “I think the most important thing is to give back to your community.” He devotes his off time to his wife, Maureen, their dogs, golf and scuba diving. He has a daughter, Victoria, and his grandchildren.
Silver Circle Honoree
2014
Dave Fox
Dave began his Television Broadcast career in 1984 at a small Television Station on the Western Slope of Colorado in Glenwood Springs. After 6 months in Glenwood, Dave was hired at KLAS-TV in Las Vegas and was quickly promoted to the lead Sports Anchor at the CBS Affiliate.
In September of 1987, Dave & his Wife Kathie were thrilled when he they were offered the opportunity to return to their home state as Dave was hired as the lead Sports Anchor at KUTV in Salt Lake City. Dave has held this position since. Dave is the weeknight Sports Anchor where he reports daily on the 6:00pm & 10:00pm Newscasts on KUTV. He is also host of Talkin’ Sport, a half hour Live Sports program each night following the News on sister station KMYU-TV.
Dave has won numerous awards for broadcasting excellence, but he is particularly proud of the Emmy® Award he & the KUTV Sports team won for the “Dave Fox Sport Den,” a Sunday night Sports Program early in his career at KUTV. In 2015 he was inducted into the Silver Circle for his exemplary career and service to the industry and the market he serves.
Dave is a Utah native who graduated from Bountiful High School. He and his wife Kathie have four children, Daughters Katie Darling (Stephenson), Lauren Parks (Casey), Kelli Gendlek (Jeremy) and a son Andrew, who is currently in his 2nd year of Law School at the University of Utah. They also have 5 Grand Children! Four Grandsons…Daxton, Madden, Beckham, and Crew and one Granddaughter…Kendyl.
They love to spend time with the family, especially travelling. Daughter Kelli will finish her senior season playing Softball for Utah Valley University, so they’ll be on the road quite a bit in 2015 including 2 trips to Phoenix.
Silver Circle Honoree
2001
Stella Gallegos
Stella Gallegos began her career with KGGM TV and Radio (now KRQE) in Albuquerque in 1961. She got her start as a receptionist/traffic clerk for both TV and radio. She moved up over her 40 career years and was promoted to assistant then TV Traffic Manager. As recently as 1999 she was still in charge of integrating the traffic systems of owned stations in Albuquerque, Durango, Colorado, Roswell New Mexico and El Paso. She is the recipient of many Lee Enterprises employee awards.
Silver Circle Honoree
2024
Jessica Garate
Jessica Garate has built her career on breaking major news stories. While she had the privilege of anchoring for 25 years, her true passion lies in reporting. “There are so many aspects to anchoring, from ad libs and cross talk, to live coverage that lasts hours, to delivering each read with command and emotion. Jess is a master of them all. She is also a tenacious reporter with a powerful gift for storytelling. She is a rare find. It has been a gift to work with her these years,” Dean Staley, KRQE Co-anchor.
Jessica’s love for news started at an early age. As a kid, she enjoyed listening to public radio, watching local news, and discussing politics and national events with her parents. At Rawlins High School in Wyoming, Jessica was responsible for reading the morning announcements. Her English teachers, impressed by her voice, suggested she pursue radio in college, which she did, later working at Wyoming Public Radio.
Jessica’s career took her to Moscow, Russia, where she followed a human rights group. While in New Mexico, she uncovered alleged corruption in the administrations of three different governors and revealed corruption several times within the local school district. She has interviewed several presidential candidates and covered numerous political rallies. Jessica has moderated debates and covered the Wyoming and New Mexico legislatures. For two decades, she has exposed the deaths of children in New Mexico and the issues facing its Children, Youth, and Families Department. One of her stories, involving the death of a 4-year-old boy the state could have saved, was nominated for a regional Emmy®. She has reported live from New Mexico’s biggest wildfires, in Roswell during a school shooting, and in El Paso after a mass shooting at a Walmart.
Jessica won her second regional Emmy® Award for covering the kidnapping and murder of a New Mexico woman. Jessica was named a '2021 Woman of Influence' by Albuquerque Business First, and she has won numerous awards from the Texas Associated Press, the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters, and the New Mexico Broadcasters Association. Her Balloon Fiesta coverage in 2022 was nominated for a regional Emmy®. Jessica grew up in West Texas and Wyoming and is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism. She's forever grateful for all the people who gave her a chance to pursue her passion in journalism at Wyoming Public Radio, KTWO-TV in Casper, Wyoming, KWES-TV in Midland, Texas, and KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Jessica believes in giving back to the community. She has participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters and served on the Boys and Girls Club board. She takes pride in the "KRQE Cares" program, which has provided thousands of new shoes for kids in need. Additionally, she enjoys reading to children as part of this program. Jessica is also a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign. She is a frequent guest lecturer at the University of New Mexico's College of Communication and Journalism.
Jessica is deeply appreciative of her mentors and the news teams who have shaped her into a better journalist. She credits her first-generation Mexican parents for instilling her values. Her sister, a role model, and her family have also played a significant role in her life. Above all, she takes immense pride in her daughters, Lola and Kaylee. Jessica is grateful for her husband, Ryan, whose unwavering love and support have been invaluable to her.
Gold & Silver Circle Honoree
2000
Manny Garcia
In 1964 Manny Garcia was teaching photography at Phoenix College. KOOL-TV General Manager, Homer Lane, called one day and asked, “Would you have any interested in helping us build our news department at Channel 10?” He interviewed, got the job and became one of the first television news photographers in Arizona. He also ran the film processor and edited stories for Channel 10’s Newscasts.
In 1965, Manny was the Director of Photography for one of the state’s first major documentary projects, a one-hour, prime-time special titled Illegitimacy, The Sudden Fact of Life. The program won numerous awards including an Emmy® for Best Documentary. Garcia says, “I was named Director of Photography for the station in 1966 and took part in hiring the best group of videographers in the region. I’ve been lucky enough to do special reporting and documentary production all over the world. I have seen some incredible images in some very remote places on this lovely planet. But I think I am best known for the scenic shots and scenes of this beautiful state in which I was born. I am a fourth generation Arizonan. And I love this place with both my heart and my eyes.”
His father was a sheepherder for a good part of his life. He grew up listening to his stories of old Arizona. Manny’s mom came to Phoenix in 1929 and quickly became a historical part of this community by joining a dance troupe in the then “new” Orpheum Theatre. He is married to his wife, Irene, has three grown children, Anne, Christie and Jon, along with several grandchildren.
Garcia is a Rocky Mountain Emmy®, Peabody and Gabriel Award recipient and has more than 20 press association awards. He is also the recipient of the coveted National Emmy® Award.
As the Director of Photography for “RightThisMinute,” Arizona’s first daily national syndicated television show, he is still teaching and still helping to shape new ways to share the world’s stories. Today it’s for millions of daily television viewers in the United States and growing web audience throughout the world.
Silver Circle Honoree
2004
Scott Geyer
Scott Geyer is one of the founders of live sports broadcasting in the state of Arizona. The San Francisco Bay Area native moved to Arizona in 1980 after graduating from San Diego State University. He joined American Cable TV in Phoenix as a part of the Arizona Sports Programming Network (ASPN), which covered local high school, college, professional and Spring Training events. He worked as a technician and director on both local and national broadcasts.
In 1988, Scott joined the Phoenix Suns as producer and director of their television package, working with fellow Silver Circle member Al McCoy. The Suns went to the playoffs 9 consecutive seasons, including the 1993 NBA Finals. He also managed the production and post-production divisions of the US Airways Center (now Talking Stick Resort Arena).
In 1997, after spending two years advising the Arizona Diamondbacks organization on the media needs for Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field), Geyer left the hardwood for the diamond. He has been with the team for 22 years. From the inaugural season in 1998 through 2007, he directed the multi-award wining Diamondbacks broadcasts. He was at the helm for the team’s pennant clincher in 1999, Randy Johnson’s Perfect Game and the magical 2001 season. He also served as the Vice President of Broadcasting, overseeing all TV and Radio broadcasts in addition to Chase Field’s audio/video and scoreboard systems.
Geyer lives in Phoenix with his wife Lisa. They have two sons, Adam and Travis.
Silver Circle Honoree
2007
Donald Godfrey
Donald G. Godfrey was a longtime broadcaster, educator and historian who worked in commercial radio and television and corporate communications. During his professional career, he served as reporter, anchor, program director and producer at various television and radio stations, including KIRO-TV, Seattle; KSVN-AM and KOET-TV, Ogden, Utah; and KEZI-TV, Eugene, Ore.
In addition, for more than 20 years he supervised student newsmagazine programs that aired on KCTS-PBS, Seattle; KUAT-PBS, Tucson, Ariz.; KSDL-TV, St. George, Utah; and KAET-PBS and Cox Cable, Phoenix.
A prolific author, Godfrey wrote and edited numerous books on the history of broadcasting in the U.S., including “Methods of Historical Analysis in Electronic Media,” “Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television” and “Historical Dictionary of American Radio.” His work also has been published in scholarly peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journalism Quarterly and Journalism History.
Godfrey is a past president of the Broadcast Education Association and founding chair of the BEA Festival of Media Arts as well as the BEA Symposium and the BEA Research Committee. He was the recipient of the association’s Distinguished Education Service Award and the Festival of Media Arts Founder’s award.
He was inducted into the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Society in 2007.
Silver Circle Honoree
2008
Hector Gonzalez
Hector Gonzalez is an Executive Producer and the Director of Online and New Media at the University of Arizona’s KUAT in Tucson. He was recognized by the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, with induction into the Silver Circle Society in 2007, for twenty-five years of service to the industry and his community.
Silver Circle Honoree
2009
Michael Grant
Michael Grant was born July 16, 1951 in Hutchinson, Kansas. He is an attorney and former host of the long-running Arizona Public Television program Horizon. Before his work on Horizon, Grant worked in Arizona radio both as a disc jockey and an investigative reporter, including for KOY-AM.
Grant got his start on Arizona television by covering Sandra Day O’Connor’s Senate confirmation hearings for KAET Channel 8 and PBS. After the hearings, KAET producers came to Grant with a concept for a daily discussion show. The special Friday edition was to be modeled after Washington Week in Review. Known as the roundtable discussion, local journalists would review the week’s top news stories in an informal, conversational format. Monday through Thursday’s shows would focus on interviews with subjects close to a particular newsworthy event or issue.
Grant was with Horizon for over a quarter century and hosted the 25th anniversary edition of the show on October 19, 2006. Grant hosted his last Horizon show as the regular moderator on January 26, 2007, although he has since acted as a fill-in host, on occasion.
Grant received his Bachelor’s degree in English from Arizona State University in 1973 and his Juris Doctorate from ASU in 1976. He currently practices telecommunications and public utility law at Gallagher and Kennedy, PA, in Phoenix.
Silver Circle Honoree
2012
Barbara Grijalva
Born and raised in Tucson, and a graduate of the University of Arizona, Barbara is a unique, homegrown personality. For 34 years, Barbara worked tirelessly to provide Tucson and Southern Arizona with the most relevant and updated news, both local and national, and is considered a living legend by her coworkers and viewers. During her time on KOLD News 13, Barbara was flexible in her reporting, working as both an anchor and a reporter in the field; in \times of need, Barbara could always be counted on by her team to get the job done. Above all, Barbara Grijalva is a trusted professional whose reporting is always defined by the facts. Upon her retirement in 2017 Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva (no relation) in a declaration on the house floor remarked “In these times, the loss of a journalist of Barbara’s caliber is significant. Her talent, demeanor and style will be missed coming into our homes and our minds. We thank Barbara for the contributions and impact she has given us and we wish her well in her next adventure.”
She was inducted into the Silver Circle in 2012.