Rochester Media Association

The Rochester Media Association has named the second set of honorees for its Impact Awards, which are meant to honor individuals with a distinguished career in local media who also have made substantial contributions to the community. The awards will be presented at the Association’s second annual  banquet on June 15.

The winners are:

Rich Funke, longtime WHEC-TV Channel 10 reporter and anchor, who recently retired after a 40-year career in broadcasting. He has won numerous state and local awards for his work and also has been involved in fund-raising and other support for Camp Good Days and Special Times, Golisano Children’s Hospital and other community groups.

Jack Garner, critic and columnist for the Democrat and Chronicle, who retired from full-time work at the paper in 2007 but continues to contribute as a free-lancer. He serves on the boards of BOA Editions, poetry publishers, and Writers & Books,  and has been honored by the George Eastman House for his contributions to the world of film.

Beth Adams, radio news anchor with WXXI News and former longtime reporter at WHAM 1180 news. In addition to her long radio career Adams is active in the Rochester community, having volunteered for organizations including the Humane Society at Lollypop Farm, the Heart of Gold Children’s Foundation, the Rochester Press Radio Club Children’s Charities, and the Rochester Broadway Theater League Education Committee.

This year’s honorees follow the inaugural class honored last year, which consisted of Don Alhart, longtime WHAM-TV Channel 13 anchor; Carol Ritter Wright, retired reporter and columnist for the Democrat and Chronicle; and Brother Wease, radio personality with 95.1.

The Impact Award winners, who were selected by a vote of the RMA membership, will be honored at the dinner along with organizational contributors. Leading Rochester area media organizations have been asked to designate two honorees, one a Young Media Professional contributor (age 30 and younger) and one an Established Media Professional (over 30). The purpose of the event is to collectively and collaboratively celebrate outstanding work of media professionals across the Rochester community.

The event will take place at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on Saturday June 15, beginning with a cocktail hour (cash bar) at 6:30 p.m., with dinner at 7:30 p.m. followed by the program. Don Alhart will be master of ceremonies.

 
Tickets cost $45 for members and $55 for non-members. See box to the right of this entry for additional information and links to order tickets online.

Dinner photos have been posted in a public gallery on Photobucket.at

http://photobucket.com/RMA_dinner_2012.

and to the Association’s Facebook page.

Also, here is a

Storify compilation of tweets about the event.

Emcee Tom Proietti, second from left, with Rochester Media Association Impact Award winners (from left) Brother Wease, Don Alhart and Carol Ritter.

About 90 individuals from more than a dozen Rochester area media organizations were on hand for the inaugural Rochester Media Association awards dinner Saturday June 9 at St. John Fisher College.

The event honored 25 members of the local media for contributions to their organizations and the general community.

Signature honors, called the Impact Awards, were presented to three longstanding media professionals honoring both their professional achievements and their work with local charities and community groups. They were Carol Ritter Wright, retired reporter and columnist from the Democrat and Chronicle; Brother Wease, morning radio personality from 95.1 The Brew; and Don Alhart, anchor for WHAM13 News.

Also honored were two individuals each from 11 different media outlets in town, designated by their employers for their contributions to those organizations. They were:

• ClearChannel radio:  Shari Smith, morning news anchor on WHAM 1180 and Paul “Pauly G” Guglielmo, producer for 95.1 The Brew.
• Entercom Radio: Terry Clifford, morning host on WBEE, and Megan Carter, on-air personality, program director and music director at WPXY.
• Messenger Post media: Linda Quinlan, Irondequoit-Webster reporter and Bethany Young, East Rochester reporter.
• Minority Reporter newspaper: reporters Rodney Brown and Sharese Hardaway.
• WDKX radio: On-air personalities Anthony “Tony” Boler and Tariq Spence.
• WGMC radio: Operations director Jack Mindy and volunteer on-air host Phil Dodd.
• WHAM Channel 13: Anchor Ginny Ryan and reporter/video journalist Angela Hong.
• WHEC Channel 10: Anchor Janet Lomax and reporter/weekend anchor Christine VanTimmeren.
• WROC Channel 8: Photographer Jason Gardner and news producer Nathan Bense.
• WXXI: Videographer Marty Kaufman and reporter Helene Biandudi.
• YNN: Reporter-anchors Cristina Domingues and Kate McGowan.