The Iowa Broadcast News Association awarded Jim Mertens the Jack Shelley Award at the IBNA convention April 26th in Johnson. The Shelley is the highest honor given by the organization.
Mertens currently co-anchors the 4, 6, and 10 p.m. news at KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids. He began working at KCRG in 2022 after 27 years as an anchor and reporter at WQAD-TV in the Quad Cities.
At WQAD, Mertens anchored (at various times) the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, the 6:30 p.m. newscast (that he created), and Good Morning Quad Cities. From 2000 until he started at KCRG, Jim co-anchored WQAD’s week-long coverage of the John Deere Classic, a PGA golf tournament in the Quad Cities.
Before arriving at WQAD, Jim worked at TV stations in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He also worked at radio stations in Fond du Lac and Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Jim is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire School of Journalism.
He’s received numerous reporting awards from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, including first place awards from the Iowa Broadcast News Association, the Iowa Associated Press, and the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. He was also a member of the WQAD news team that won a national Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) in 1996. Jim co-anchored the station’s coverage of an outbreak of nearly two dozen tornados in eastern Iowa and western Illinois.
Jim has served as president of the IBNA, and has been on the board of directors several times. He is a past president and board member of the Northwest Broadcast News Association, an organization of broadcast journalists in six Midwestern states. Jim is currently a board member for the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association.
Congratulations Jim from the IBNA Board !
————————
Clinton Broadcaster wins 2024 Shelley Award
The Iowa Broadcast News Association awarded Dave Vickers of Clinton the Jack Shelley Award at its annual convention on April 20th, 2024 in Johnston. The Shelley Award is the highest honor given by the IBNA.
After graduating from the journalism school at Iowa State University, where Jack Shelley was his advisor, Dave briefly worked as a farm reporter in Austin, Minnesota. He returned to Iowa in 1978 where he worked in the news department at KLEE radio in Ottumwa. In 1983 he made the move to KROS radio in Clinton and worked there until his retirement in April of 2022.
A strong supporter of open government, Dave served as president of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council for nine years. Dave says he was known as “the open meetings guy.” When covering local government meetings, such as the city council, the members sometimes asked him if they were “doing it right” when they closed a meeting to the public. He says he did have a few “run-ins” with city attorneys over the years about whether a local government meeting could be closed.
Along with his FOI work, Dave has also served Iowa’s broadcast journalists through the Iowa Broadcast News Association. He served for several years on the IBNA Board was twice elected as its president.
He is also a past member of the Iowa Broadcasters Association board and served as a liaison between the two groups.
During his lengthy career, Dave covered thousands of news stories. His advice to journalists: “Give each story the same amount of care no matter how big or how small the story is.”
Gary Determan worked with Dave, and said this in support of his nomination for the Shelley Award. “I found Dave to be very passionate about news coverage, often going the extra mile to get the story. He could be found at just about every meeting, from City Council to School Board, and other community events. In addition Dave also was instrumental in special programming at KROS from hosting “Legislative Review,” his “Saturday morning School Notebook” that featured activities outside of sports, and of course his coverage of elections, press conferences and special features. A true professional, I enjoyed working alongside Dave for nearly 40 years!”
Here is a link to an Archives of Iowa Broadcasting interview where Dave Vickers discusses his career.
https://youtu.be/EJ4ggwrnTp8
The 2024 IBNA Contest Results are now online.
IBNA names 2023 Jack Shelley Award Winner
Retired KCCI TV and Iowa Public Radio Journalist Rick Fredericksen was named the winner of the Jack Shelley Award at the annual Iowa Broadcast News Association convention on April 29th in Altoona. The Shelley Award is the organization’s highest honor.
Fredericksen is a graduate of Des Moines North High School. He began his career in the military where he learned the broadcast trade and was on the air at the Armed Forces Radio Network in Vietnam. That’s the network highlighted in the movie “Good Morning Vietnam.”
He returned to Iowa and the news department of what was then KRNT TV. The station became KCCI and Fredericksen was part of the first dual anchor team behind the Channel 8 news desk.
He left KCCI to take a job as a news anchor in Hawaii, he left there to become bureau chief for CBS News in Bangkok, Thailand. Fredericksen returned to Iowa once again where he joined Iowa Public Radio and worked there until his retirement.
The IBNA congratulates Rick Fredericksen, the 2023 IBNA Jack Shelley Award winner.
Watch an interview in the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting