An Indiana legislator who was the principal sponsor of the Indiana Open Door Law will receive a Distinguished Service award. Four journalists and one journalism educator also will be inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame Saturday, Sept. 17 in Indianapolis.
The inductees, selected by the board of the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, will be honored in a reception at 10:30 a.m. followed by a luncheon and program at the Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis.
The Hall of Fame inductees include:
Ed Breen, the former managing editor of The Chronicle-Tribune in Marion and a former assistant managing editor of The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, started his career as a reporter / photographer and was named Indiana Photographer of the year in 1967. “Breen was a pioneer in the early days of full-color newspaper photography, one of those people who made the rest of us realize what was possible. He shared his knowledge as a discussion leader at the American Press Institute, as a member of the Pulitzer Prize nominating jury, as a regular contributor to the Hoosier State Press Association annual newsroom seminar, as a seminar speaker for the Mid-America Press Institute, as a speaker at the annual convention of the Society of Newspaper Designers, as a speaker to the national convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, as a speaker on photography and photo editing for the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, as a guest lecturer at Franklin College, and as a volunteer at the annual HSPA/APME Indiana Job Fair where he critiques the resumes of young journalists,” said Jack Ronald.
“He is still at it,” said Craig Klugman, former editor of the Journal-Gazette.
“He is the morning drive-time host of a Marion radio news and interview program.”
Diana Hadley, the executive director of the Indiana High School Press Association, is a 12-year faculty member at Franklin College and a former journalism and media teacher at Mooresville High School. She created the First Amendment Symposium that draws together high school journalists and the Indiana legislature in the Capitol rotunda each spring. She is co-author of a book called The Peace Class: A Study of Effective Cheek-Turning, Neighbor-Loving and Sword-to-Plowshares Conversion. “Diana gave voice to the value of a free and responsible student press at a time when schools sought more control. In doing so, she restored a sense of pride among advisers and confidence among students who simply wanted their journalism courses to count,” wrote Dennis Cripe, former professor in the Franklin College Pulliam School of Journalism.
John Norberg, who started his career with the Brazil Daily Times in 1971, was an investigative writer and columnist for the Lafayette Journal and Courier through 2014. He is a freelance writer for the Time, Emergency Magazine for the Smithsonian Institution and author of seven books on Purdue alumni and history. “Fair but tenacious, he braved very real threats and long hours to uncover corruption and mismanagement. He stood up to public censure to shed light on changes and challenges in society. He continues to show us all that good writing seeks to tell the stories of individual people,” according to Angie Rizzo, former managing editor of the Lafayette Courier and Gazette.
Bill Shrader is a former editor and associate publisher of the Bloomington Herald-Times and a former editor and general manager of Bedford Times-Mail. In retirement he continues to oversee publication of a magazine for Schurz Communications.
Before his death in 1998, the late Jim Bannon had a long career of service in journalism in Indiana and is known as “Mr. Anderson” in Anderson, where his bust sits in the town square. The former editor of the Anderson Herald-Bulletin and the assistant publisher and director of communications of Anderson Newspapers, also worked in Elwood, Fort Wayne, Kokomo and New Haven. He was also a radio and television newsman in Fort Wayne and worked as a reporter with the Associated Press wire service in Louisville as well as owned two weeklies, the Pendleton Times and Fortville Tribune. He was also a past president of the Hoosier State Press Association and co-chaired a committee that helped write and guide the Indiana Open Door Law through the Legislature.
In addition, the board will bestow the John P. McMeel Distinguished Service Award on Steven C. Moberly for his work to keep the flow of vital government and political news transparent by sponsoring and/or introducing two bills in the 1970s and 1980s as a member of the Indiana General Assembly. Moberly, a Republican who was elected to the House of Representatives from Shelbyville, sponsored the Open Door Law, passed in 1977, which gives the media in Indiana a powerful weapon in the search for truth. Moberly, an attorney, was the principal sponsor of that law and others that guarantee public access to government meetings. Moberly also sponsored laws in 1979 and 1984 that strengthened the original legislation.
Tickets are $50 each. Order by contacting Larry Taylor at (812) 856-9898, or by emailing ijhf@indiana.edu.
