2022 Gridiron Awards event also to honor:
Former Governor and UW System President Tommy G. Thompson
MILWAUKEE, WI – The Milwaukee Press Club today announced finalists in the 92nd Annual MPC Awards for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism competition.
Finalists are presented by contest category, and listed alphabetically by organization. Click here for finalists.
Actual award placement– gold, silver and bronze – will be announced May 6 at the club’s Gridiron Awards event at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.
This year’s contest drew more than 800 entries from throughout Wisconsin in professional and collegiate categories. The competition was judged by professional journalists from press clubs throughout the U.S., including statewide clubs in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Western Pennsylvania and Southeast Texas and metro-area clubs in Cleveland, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco and Syracuse.
Also to be honored at the Gridiron event:
Manu Raju, CNN chief congressional correspondent, will receive the Sacred Cat Award, which recognizes journalism achievement at the national level.
Raju is a journalist who serves as the chief congressional correspondent at the news network CNN, covering the United States Congress and campaign politics. Raju was a top Capitol Hill reporter at Politico and The Hill newspaper and is a frequent guest on political talk shows on TV and radio. He has won multiple journalism awards including the White House Correspondents Association’s Merriman Smith award for presidential reporting in 2012; first prize in beat reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists for his coverage of the 2014 midterm elections; the Joan Shorenstein Barone award for best congressional reporting by the Radio and Televisions Correspondent Association; and was part of a team of CNN journalists selected for the David Bloom Award for coverage of the January 6 Capitol attack.
This year’s Headliner Award will be presented to former Wisconsin Governor and UW System President Tommy G. Thompson.
A native of Elroy, Wisconsin, Thompson earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from UW-Madison. He first was elected to the state’s Assembly in 1966 and became minority leader in 1981. He won election as governor in 1986 and was re-elected three times, making him the longest-serving governor in Wisconsin history. He stepped down during his fourth term to become United States Health and Human Services secretary under President George W. Bush, a role in which he oversaw an increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health and enhanced local public health preparedness.
Thompson, who was appointed in July 2020 as interim UW system president, in January announced he would step down March 18. Earlier this month, the UW Board of Regents removed the interim designation in recognition of Thompson’s contributions during his tenure.
The Headliner Awards are presented annually to those who are making a positive difference in Wisconsin.
For information on ways to get involved with the Gridiron Awards event and support the Milwaukee Press Club’s journalistic mission click here for sponsorship and advertising opportunities. Ad and sponsorship deadline, Friday, March 25, 2022.
For additional information or to register for the Gridiron Awards Dinner, please visit our website at www.milwaukeepressclub.org or contact Joette Richards at joette@milwaukeepressclub.org or 262-894-2224.
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