“And the Regional Emmy® Goes To…”
Town Square Television and NDC4 Cable Commission staff members were awarded two Upper Midwest Regional Emmy® Awards at the October 19th ceremony in Prior Lake, Minnesota.
Producer Ashley Bowes and Reporter Alexis Pearson received a Regional Emmy® in the category of Historical/Cultural/Nostalgia- News with “January 11, 1974,” their story commemorating the 50th anniversary of West St. Paul’s most deadly fire, which killed three firefighters and one resident. In her acceptance speech, Pearson said, “… Of course, we couldn’t tell these stories without people being WILLING to tell their story, so thank you to those in our community who are willing to share these hard stories with us; it means a lot to us; thank you all.” Bowes and Pearson were honored to interview survivor Jim Petersen, who was a rookie West St. Paul firefighter called to the scene on the night of January 11, 1974, and family members of one of the fallen firefighters Richard Neikirk, his widow Janet and his daughter Katie for the story.
Editor Dennis Rafftery and Photographers Carmen Hauck, Ashley Bowes, Nick Anderson and Trevor Blom received a Regional Emmy® in the category of Special Event Coverage with “Dakota County Emergency Preparedness Exercise,” a complex group production allowing viewers to experience an inside view of the county-wide collaborative public safety drill staged at Inver Hills Community College in 2023. In his acceptance speech Rafftery thanked the whole team who contributed to the project, acknowledged the retirement of 35-year Executive Director Jodie Miller, and gave a shout out to all community television stations.
Click here to see the two award announcements at the October 19th gala.
According to Executive Director Jodie Miller, “We extend our deepest gratitude to our supporters and volunteers, for ALL they do to stand behind our exceptional staff and crew and make it possible for them to excel in their craft of telling the stories of our community. We are a tiny station striving to cover all the important moments for our residents, from election and local meeting coverage to high school sports to nonprofit profiles to the INSIGHT 7 news magazine, reflecting the heartbeats of our community! With a staff of 12, we truly could not televise and stream 2,000 hours of local programming per year without the amazing leadership of our board, commission and Member Cities, and the generous financial and volunteer contributions of individuals and organizations in northern Dakota County.”
Town Square Television was also honored to provide the equipment and crew for the live streamed coverage of the awards ceremony. Click here to view the October 19th ceremony video.