2025 Chicago

Honorees

Diann
Burns

Phil
Donahue

Jennifer
Graves

Billy
Jennings

Dan
Jiggetts

Bernard
Shaw

Rob
Stafford

Debra
Zimmer

CEREMONY VIDEO & PROGRAM

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Diann Burns

Diann Burns is a trailblazing journalist, executive producer for film, and an award-winning television news anchor whose pioneering presence helped change the face of journalism in one of America’s most influential media markets. She became the first African American woman to anchor prime-time news in Chicago — a landmark achievement that opened doors for future generations and cemented her place in media history.

Over her remarkable career at ABC 7 and CBS 2 Chicago, Burns became a household name, known for her groundbreaking reporting, trusted presence during national and local crises, and live coverage of some of the most consequential stories of our time — from national political conventions to the World Series. Her journalism was marked by clarity, humanity, and leadership.

Burns has earned nine regional Emmy® Awards and a national Emmy® Award in addition to print journalism recognition. She was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business 100 Most Influential Chicagoans and holds the highest popularity rating in Chicago television history — a reflection of her lasting connection with viewers.

Beyond the anchor desk, Burns is a respected voice in media ethics and newsroom culture, advocating for standards rooted in diversity, sensitivity and respect. She mentors aspiring journalists through Columbia University’s graduate mentoring program. As a consultant, she has advised law enforcement, corporate leaders, and hosted webinars for professors, scientists and students — to this day — and is a guest lecturer at major universities.

Today, she continues shaping the narrative as a scriptwriter and executive producer for television series and movies, and is immersed in digital media, cross-platform storytelling, and the evolving space of artificial intelligence in content creation — where she brings her journalistic integrity to the forefront of ethical innovation. She is the founder of Diann Burns Entertainment and remains an in-demand consultant, speaker and creative force

A member of the Today’s Chicago Woman Hall of Fame and active in numerous organizations and charities, Diann Burns is celebrated not only for her legacy in journalism, but for her trusted voice, dynamic leadership, and expanding influence in the transformation of media — from the newsroom to the C-suite.

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Phil Donahue

The Paley Media Center said it best: “If you want to know what the 20th Century looked like, just watch Donahue."

Born in the Midwest and schooled among the fighting Irish of Notre Dame, cub city hall reporter, Phil Donahue, burst onto daytime television and turned the medium upside down. He introduced American audiences to a daily line-up of explosive issues and groundbreaking guests.

Nelson Mandela railed against apartheid. Gloria Steinem took on the patriarchy. Muhammad Ali expounded on race and religion. Donahue stood up to David Duke and the KKK--and pushed back against Skinheads who were espousing Neo-Nazism.

Donahue was the first western journalist to visit Chernobyl after the nuclear incident and the first TV host to call attention to the mysterious disease called AIDS, when there were only 200 known cases.

During his years on the air, every American President turned to Donahue to connect with citizens of the nation. He always credited his Midwestern roots for the show's great success, from its early Dayton, Ohio, inception to the colossal years in Chicago, at both WGN and WBBM, before the show's move to New York. The Chicago crews became extended family and the Chicago audiences were the stars of the show, making Donahue the success it became, and whom he always held close to his heart.

Phil Donahue’s rare combination of intelligence, humanity and unquenchable curiosity, catapulted him to a record 29-year run, 7000 episodes, 20 Emmy® Awards, the prestigious Peabody Award and induction into the national Television Academy Hall of Fame. And in May of 2024, President Joe Biden awarded Donahue the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a White House ceremony.

But for all those achievements, he will always be remembered as that handsome, white-haired figure bounding into the crowd, microphone in hand, giving America its first glimpse of a studio audience, while speaking words that soon became a national catchphrase: “Is the caller there?”

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Jennifer Graves

Jennifer Graves led Chicago’s top-rated news organization from October 2001 until her retirement in June 2024. Under her watch, every newscast in the ABC 7 lineup was rated #1 in the market. A 41-year veteran of local news, Graves worked at ABC 7 Chicago for more than 32 years.

In her role as Vice President - News, Graves managed news employees and directed all ABC 7 news efforts, from breaking news and major event coverage to half-hour specials, political debates and day-to- day planning. Major events during her tenure included the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the election of President Barack Obama, multiple professional sports championships and the Coronavirus pandemic. Under her leadership, Eyewitness News was honored for excellence with numerous Chicago/Midwest Emmy® Awards, Illinois Broadcasters Association Silver Dome Awards, Associated Press and Peter Lisagor Awards, regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, as well as a National Emmy® for investigative news reporting.

From 1998 to 2001, Graves was the Assistant News Director at ABC 7. She joined the station in 1992 as an executive news producer after four years at WAGA-TV in Atlanta. In Georgia, she was promoted from news producer to executive producer and prior to that, worked as a producer and assignment editor at KSDK-TV in St. Louis, Missouri.

Graves was named a Chicago Broadcast Pioneer by the Illinois Broadcasters Association in 2024. She received the Dante Award from Chicago’s Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans in 2016. Graves was a long-time member of the Radio Television Digital News Association and The Chicago Network, a women’s business leadership organization.

Graves is a native of Belleville, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism degree. She enjoys spending time with her husband and adult twin daughters.Jennifer Graves led Chicago’s top-rated news organization from October 2001 until her retirement in June 2024. Under her watch, every newscast in the ABC 7 lineup was rated #1 in the market. A 41-year veteran of local news, Graves worked at ABC 7 Chicago for more than 32 years.

In her role as Vice President - News, Graves managed news employees and directed all ABC 7 news efforts, from breaking news and major event coverage to half-hour specials, political debates and day-to- day planning. Major events during her tenure included the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the election of President Barack Obama, multiple professional sports championships and the Coronavirus pandemic. Under her leadership, Eyewitness News was honored for excellence with numerous Chicago/Midwest Emmy® Awards, Illinois Broadcasters Association Silver Dome Awards, Associated Press and Peter Lisagor Awards, regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, as well as a National Emmy® for investigative news reporting.

From 1998 to 2001, Graves was the Assistant News Director at ABC 7. She joined the station in 1992 as an executive news producer after four years at WAGA-TV in Atlanta. In Georgia, she was promoted from news producer to executive producer and prior to that, worked as a producer and assignment editor at KSDK-TV in St. Louis, Missouri.

Graves was named a Chicago Broadcast Pioneer by the Illinois Broadcasters Association in 2024. She received the Dante Award from Chicago’s Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans in 2016. Graves was a long-time member of the Radio Television Digital News Association and The Chicago Network, a women’s business leadership organization. Graves is a native of Belleville, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism degree. She enjoys spending time with her husband and adult twin daughters.

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Billy Jennings

Billy Jennings grew up in a family that immersed themselves in the news. With every space shot, every political convention, every big event, the television was always on in the Jennings family home. It would serve him well.

Decades later, he found himself working in the news, living it, and loving it!

Indeed, it would prove significant that one day, Jennings would cover news at Comiskey Park. It was where his parents first met. His mother worked in the White Sox front office, while his father played on the ballpark’s field for the NFL’s Chicago Cardinals.

Jennings attended high school at Loyola Academy, after which he served in the United States Marine Corps. Upon his discharge in 1982, he joined NBC Chicago at the Merchandise Mart in building maintenance. But just a year later, he had transitioned to minicam, and a lifetime adventure in broadcast journalism. 1984 brought service with NBC News on the campaigns of John Glenn, Geraldine Ferraro and Gary Hart, and the beaches at Copacabana with the Today Show. Transitioning to local news with WMAQ, Jennings helped with the move to the new NBC Tower, the construction of the streetside Studio 5, and as chief photographer for the last 16 years of his NBC career, led the transition from analog to the digital formats we use today.

Along the way, he continued his childhood fascination with news. From the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, to the death of Mayor Harold Washington in Chicago, Jennings saw it all. His assignments took him places many people might never see, from the elevation and burial of Popes at the Vatican to the Olympics in Beijing. Add in countless hurricanes, election nights, auto shows, marathons, sports championships, and thousands of breaking news events. Jennings was literally an eyewitness to history.

Billy Jennings was the recipient of multiple regional Emmy® Awards from the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. And in his remarkable career, he was the trusted partner for scores of reporters, for whom he captured the spectacular, tragic and joyful images for Chicago viewers over five decades of news.

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Dan Jiggetts

Dan Jiggetts’ over 30-year broadcasting career is proof that being open to any and every opportunity and being kind, loyal and honest leads to growth and success.

Jiggetts was a Brooklyn born, Quogue, NY raised Harvard graduate, All American football player and standout track and field athlete in the Ivy League. In 1976, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears where he played as an offensive lineman until 1983. Seeing an inevitable end to his football career, Jiggetts interned at NBC 5 Chicago in the early 1980s. This opportunity was the beginning of a sportscasting career spanning more than three decades.

Jiggetts joined the NFL on CBS as an analyst in 1985. James Brown and Jiggetts were the first African American broadcasting team to call an NFL game in 1987. He covered an incredibly diverse roster of sports - including synchronized swimming and track and field. In 1992, as part of the launch of Chicago's WSCR sports radio station known as "The Score,” he co-hosted a popular show named Monsters of the Midday which is considered among the best programs in Chicago sports-radio history.

Jiggetts remained active in television while also co-hosting shows on the radio over the next decade. Dan worked for CBS, ESPN, WFLD-TV and NBC Sports as a sportscaster. In 2004, he helped to launch Comcast SportsNet Chicago and hosted Chicago Tribune Live and Monsters in the Morning for Comcast. A trusted and seasoned broadcaster, Jiggetts hosted various shows for the Chicago Bears, including The Chicago Huddle and Bears Post-Game Live. Bigger than all these accomplishments are the relationships Jiggetts developed with everyone on the job.

From interns to camera pros to producers to star athletes, he enjoyed the camaraderie of broadcasting - the challenge of bringing live shows to audiences and the connections he made with athletes, colleagues and fans alike. His character is what makes him stand out and makes him a Chicago broadcasting legend.

Jiggetts has served as a mentor and role model for many newcomers to the business and is always happy to share knowledge, a conversation and a laugh.

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Bernard Shaw

Bernard Shaw anchored and reported for CNN for more than two decades and is largely credited with getting the fledgling cable news network recognized in the United States and around the globe.

Shaw’s path to network news began on Chicago’s south side. He attended Carter Elementary School and Dunbar High School before enlisting in the Marines. While serving as a Message Center Specialist in Hawaii, he sought out news legend Walter Cronkite who was there on assignment. Shaw wanted advice from Cronkite on how to become a TV journalist.

After returning home, Shaw attended the University of Illinois, Chicago, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree. He worked as a news writer at WFLD-TV, then as a reporter for Westinghouse Radio. In 1971, he landed a job at the CBS News Washington Bureau with a little help from a friend, Walter Cronkite. In 1977, Shaw moved to ABC News and just three years later, saying he was looking for a challenge, he signed on with upstart CNN.

As one of CNN’s lead anchors, Shaw covered some of the biggest stories of the 80s and 90s. His calm and credible on-air presence was key to CNN’s coverage of the President Reagan assassination attempt. He provided live coverage of the student demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, the Oklahoma City bombing, the funeral of Princess Diana and President Clinton’s impeachment trial. He also moderated presidential and vice-presidential debates.

He made television history when he, along with colleagues John Holliman and Peter Arnett, reported on the start of the 1991 Gulf War. With bombs bursting nearby, the so-called “Boys of Baghdad” reported the start of the war in real time from the floor of their hotel room.

Shaw retired from CNN in 2001 at the age of 60. He died in 2022 at the age of 82. Shaw received numerous honors during his career, but said he paid the price of losing precious time with his wife, Linda, and their two children. His legacy lives on at his alma mater, where in 1991, he established the Bernard Shaw Endowment Fund, providing need-based scholarships that continue to this day at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Rob Stafford

Veteran anchor and investigative reporter Rob Stafford spent 40 years in television news including a decade at Dateline NBC before becoming the main anchor for NBC Chicago.

Rob joined NBC 5 News as weekend anchor and reporter in September 2007 moving to the main anchor position in July of 2009. He finished his broadcasting career co-anchoring the news at 5 & 6 PM and hosting Scene of the Crime on Peacock, a true crime series Rob created and launched in 2021.

Prior to joining NBC 5, Rob spent 10 years as a Chicago-based National Correspondent for the award- winning newsmagazine, Dateline NBC. During that time, he won two National Emmy® Awards for an investigation into hazing in the military and a prime-time hour on the Elizabeth Smart case. In 2000, he received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his Dateline investigation into racial profiling. Stafford joined NBC News in 1996 after serving as a consumer reporter and substitute anchor at Chicago’s WBBM-TV. Before that, he anchored the morning newscast at WFTV-TV in Orlando and founded the station's award-winning investigative unit. His two-year investigative series on hotel crime in Orlando exposed serious security problems and led to a grand jury investigation. Stafford also held various anchoring and reporting positions at WFRV-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin and KBJR-TV in Duluth, Minnesota.

During his 40 year career, Stafford has been recognized by local chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He was honored with eight regional Emmy® Awards in the Chicago and Florida markets. Stafford is also the recipient of four Associated Press awards, an Iris Award, and an RTNDA Award. Rob has a reputation as a fair but forceful interviewer and talented writer who handled high-pressure breaking news with calm and credibility and difficult stories with empathy and compassion.

A native of New Hampshire, Stafford earned a degree in political science and journalism from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stafford resides in Chicago with his wife Lisa. They have three adult children.

Chicago

Silver Circle Honoree

Deb Zimmer

It was 1960 - a rookie Senator named Kennedy decided he wanted to be President, a young musician named Elvis came home from war, and in a little town in Ohio, 8-year-old Debra decided this burgeoning technology known as television would be her future. It happened on a field trip, with her grandmother's Women's Guild, on a tour of their local TV station. That very day, Debra Zimmer was hooked.

In the beginning, it was a man's world. Enter Debra Zimmer, who would spend a remarkable 46 years in the director's chair. In 1970, her journey officially began at Ohio University; while gaining experience working at WOUB-TV, she received a degree in Radio-Television Communications. After graduating, Zimmer earned her stripes at Cincinnati’s WLWT-TV where she directed newscasts and programs that featured local icons like Pete Rose. In 1977, she joined WKYC-TV, the NBC-owned station in Cleveland, working alongside up-and-coming weathercaster Al Roker. In 1980, Zimmer was called to California and worked at the ABC-owned KGO-TV. There, in part, she directed the Joe Montana shows featuring the legendary San Francisco 49er.

In 1988, Zimmer was called back home to the Midwest, Chicago to be exact, where she made her award- winning mark directing shows at CBS O&O WBBM-TV for over 30 years. Zimmer directed the station's marquee 10PM newscast, the Michael Jordan shows, and countless major live breaking news events, candidate debates, and parades.

Zimmer had her headset and hand on history: directing coverage of a papal visit from Pope John Paul II, championship celebrations for the Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bulls, and the White Sox. She is a four-time Emmy® award winner and considers her proudest moments working alongside some of the best journalists, producers, writers, photographers, technicians and directors in television.

2025 Silver Circle Ceremony

Program Book