2025 Wisconsin
Honorees
Brian
Graham
Posthumous honor*
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Jerry Burke
While studying broadcasting and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the
late 1960s, Jerry Burke also worked full-time at WMKC-FM as a disc jockey. In 1971, in what
became known as a series of “fire Fridays,” the station dismissed yet another news director.
That’s when Jerry stumbled into news by walking into the general manager’s office, asking to be
news director.
“You might be the next fire Friday,” the general manager jokingly warned.
Not only did Jerry keep his job, but within a year the Associated Press named WMKC News
Station of the Year, a first for an FM station in Wisconsin. Jerry received job offers from two Green
Bay television stations the same day. He chose WBAY because it’s the station he grew up with.
Thus started Jerry’s 34-year career at WBAY, mostly spent as chief of the Fox Valley news bureau,
created in 1977 and a first for Green Bay television. He became so well-known that 48 years later,
he still gets recognized by people who say “Hey! It’s Jerry Burke live in the Valley,” his long-time
tag line for his live reports.
Throughout his career, Jerry loved covering the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual
AirVenture at Wittman Field in Oshkosh. When he retired from television, the EAA president asked
Jerry to volunteer by conducting daily “Plane Talk” sessions with pilots and crews on Boeing Plaza
where the show planes park. Those sessions became popular, typically drawing hundreds of
spectators. In 2022, EAA named Jerry Volunteer of the Year.
Jerry is a veteran of the United States Air Force, joining as a tribute to his uncle and namesake,
Lieutenant Jerry Andersen. Andersen was killed when his B-24 was shot down on May 29, 1944,
two days after his 23rd birthday.
Jerry has served on multiple charitable boards and, with training and blessing of the Diocese of
Green Bay, performed liturgies at nursing homes in the Oshkosh area for 16 years. He has written
two books; one on the biggest stories of his career and the other about the volunteers who make
AirVenture possible.
He and his bride, Mary, have been married 43 years. Their son, Kristopher, is executive news
producer at WBAY.
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Raul Galvan
Raul Galvan, who was born in Cuba, spent his formative years in western Illinois. After graduating
from Iowa State University in 1973, he was hired as a director at WHBF, the CBS affiliate in Rock
Island, Illinois. He worked there for two years before heading to WMVS/WMVT in Milwaukee.
While at public TV, he produced and directed hundreds of programs, bringing locally produced
sports to Milwaukee before the days of cable. He created Spanish language shows and
documentaries, and directed other programs, many of which aired on public television stations
around the country.
In 1984, Galvan became a free-lance producer/director, working for Northwestern Mutual, Allen-
Bradley and a host of others. He also directed the feed to the black-and-white video board at
Milwaukee County Stadium. He served as stage manager for hundreds of broadcasts of
Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks games. He also directed Marquette basketball games for WISN-
TV.
In 1988, he began work as a director at the Bradley Center and the following year became the
manager of video production. During that time, he also worked at the Atlanta and Salt Lake City
Olympics for international broadcasting organizations.
In 2001, Galvan returned to Milwaukee PBS as manager of program production, continuing to
produce and direct programs. During his 20-year tenure, he was responsible for the station’s
production department, overseeing several programs produced by current Wisconsin Silver Circle
members. He also began collaborations with UW-Milwaukee for a program called “International
Focus,” and with Marquette University Law School for “On the Issues.” He has been nominated for
numerous Chicago/Midwest Emmy® Awards.
Outside the station, in 2011, he fulfilled a lifelong goal of earning his doctorate in history. He
taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for several years. He has served on the boards of
the United Community Center, Latino Arts and the Wisconsin Humanities Council. In 2021, he
retired from Milwaukee PBS, and in 2024 he and his wife Becky became residents of the
“Lowcountry” – specifically, Beaufort, South Carolina. Raul says he’s looking for that one special
project that could lead to one last hurrah. Or maybe not.
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Jessie Garcia
Jessie Garcia knew she wanted to be a journalist from a very young age. As a child she would
interview everyone she could find, craft stories in her head or on paper, and dub herself a "Girl
Reporter."
Jessie grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and attended Madison East High School where she wrote
for the school newspaper. She went east for college to Boston University, majoring in broadcast
journalism and minoring in Spanish. Her career started at WISC in Madison, where she became
Wisconsin's first female sports anchor.
Jessie then moved to WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and became one of the first women in the country
to host an NFL coach's show, hosting The Mike Holmgren Show and co-hosting The Mike
McCarthy Show for nearly a decade. She also reported from the sidelines at Packers' games,
covering three Super Bowls plus the entire Brett Favre era, and reported on the multitude of other
sports and athletes in southeast Wisconsin.
After 25 years on the air, Jessie stepped away from TV to fulfill some other passions. She taught
journalism at four universities (Marquette, UW-Milwaukee, Carroll University and Mount Mary
University), and wrote three non-fiction books: a memoir, a history of Wisconsin Olympians, and a
biography of an Olympics family. She also made a documentary about an important piece of
Olympic history titled "Leaps and Bounds: The Men Who Changed Track and Field."
Television news eventually called Jessie back in a different role: news director at CBS 58/
Telemundo WI. It's believed she is one of the first people of Hispanic descent to run a newsroom
in Wisconsin. Jessie continues to author books as well, and St. Martin’s Press has just released
her debut fiction, a thriller titled "The Business Trip."
Jessie and her husband, Paul, are the proud parents of two boys, Jake and Charlie. She looks
back on her career and traces much of it to her mother and stepfather, who had two newspapers
per day delivered to their home and who always encouraged a love of words, current events and
the importance of doing whatever fulfills your heart.
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Brian Graham
Ever since he was old enough to talk, Brian Graham was involved in the media in some way. His father, Jim, worked on air and in sales for WISV/WGBM radio in Viroqua. Brian and most of his five siblings would be asked to appear on air or in commercials with their dad.
While he originally thought he wanted to be a sportswriter, that changed when Brian first gained access to the audio-visual center at Viroqua High School. Thanks to Ted Harris, the school ran a channel for the city. He and his friends Matt Cowden and Aaron Harris would be seen all around the school and town creating music videos, fake Jolly Good soda commercials and comedy sketches.
Brian went to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to major in broadcast journalism under the indefatigable Dr. Henry Lippold and will forever be proud to be known as what Henry termed: “a Blugold of the finest stripe.”
While still in college, Brian started as a part-time photojournalist at WEAU in Eau Claire, eventually working his way from part-time photojournalist to full-time news producer. In just more than two years, Brian saw tremendous growth thanks to news director John Hoffland and anchor Judy Clark.
Brian started at WITI as a news producer in July of 1995. A year later, he added sports special projects producer to his responsibilities, splitting his time between news and sports. In short order, Brian switched into sports and special projects full time and was blessed to work with Tom Pipines, Tim Van Vooren, Mickie Leach, John Anderson, John Pearson and Dave Michuda. Brian and Dave won five regional Emmy Awards together. Brian also had great support from co-workers Jay Matz, Jason Ruck, Tom Kurtz and Damon Drake. They did “stuff all the time” that was creative, unique, maybe a bit idiotic and juvenile, but still holds up today.
Brian has held numerous news management roles at WITI: executive producer, news operations manager, news content manager and, currently, assistant news director. He is proud to work out of the same office that once housed the man who hired him, Steve Olszyk, and his main mentor at the station, Miles Aquino.
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Pat Hastings
Pat Hastings has been a fixture in Vilas Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for
more than 20 years. Despite having retired from the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication in 2022, she still teaches, as an emeritus faculty member. The university
awarded her the “Distinguished” title for how she worked with students and the changes
she made to the curriculum to make it more contemporary.
Hastings created a TV news class which involved producing The Badger Report, a live-streamed student newscast, as well as a documentary course and audio storytelling. Her students are seen every day in broadcasting locally and worldwide.
Hastings began her career in radio news, first as news director of the campus station at
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and later as an intern at WEAQ-AM. While still a student, she anchored the afternoon drive newscast and covered local government at night.
She moved to television news as a reporter at WFRV in Green Bay. Three years of “one-person
bands” covering the Fox Valley bureau proved to be some of the most instructive moments in
her career. From setting up live trucks to covering every kind of event, each day was an
important lesson in reporting on community journalism.
Pat transitioned to a news producer role at WRTV in Indianapolis. As producer and video
coordinator, the challenge each day was coordinating all video and live feeds for an hourlong
newscast. From there, she moved to KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh as 11 p.m. newscast producer. It was there she eventually decided to get back home and became a news producer at WITI in Milwaukee.
As a Milwaukee native, Pat found herself working alongside the people she grew up watching. After producing a variety of newscasts for four years, including helping create a new 5:00 p.m. newscast, she was offered a job in teaching.
Pat is thankful for the many opportunities she had in news, but making an impact on young broadcasters has been the highlight of her career.
“An entire generation of video and sound experts now fill the halls of the top TV, radio, podcasting and newsrooms because of what she’s given them,” Deb Pierce, longtime UW-Madison colleague, said.
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Jason Hunter
Dean Reynolds was born Aug. 17, 1948 in East Chicago, Indiana. He grew up in Munster, Indiana, the oldest of five boys.
Dean graduated from Walter Johnson H.S. in Bethesda, Maryland, after his family moved to the Washington D.C. area
when his father, Frank Reynolds, became White House correspondent for ABC News.
Dean graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indian before moving back to the D.C. area to join United Press
International as a copy boy in 1971. He worked for UPI for 11 years, reporting on the assassination attempts on Gov.
George Wallace in 1972 and President Ronald Reagan in 1981 (while his dad, Frank, was anchoring ABC’s coverage). By
then, Dean had become the UPI White House correspondent.
In 1982, Dean was hired as CNN’s White House correspondent. Two years later, he joined the ABC News Washington
bureau and, in 1985, accepted a position as foreign correspondent based in London. Dean was sent to Moscow as a
vacation relief correspondent when the nuclear accident at Chernobyl occurred. His reporting on that disaster led to his
posting in Israel, where Dean covered the Palestinian uprising, the first Gulf War, the mass immigration of Russian Jews
to Israel, the trial of accused war criminal John Demjanjuk and much more. He spent nearly nine years in the Middle
East, but also covered stories in Asia and Africa.
Dean married Israeli native Yael Cohen in 1992 and their first child, Danny, was born the next year. In 1995, Dean
returned to the United States, settling in Dallas as a National Correspondent for ABC News. Two more children were
born in Dallas, Sean and Erin. It was from Dallas that Dean covered the Oklahoma City bombing as well as the trial and
execution of bomber Timothy McVeigh.
In 1998, Dean and his family moved to Highland Park, Illinois, where his last child, Maya, was born. During his time with
the ABC News Chicago Bureau, he covered the Bush and Kerry presidential campaigns.
In 2007, Dean left ABC for CBS News and, working out of its Chicago Bureau, covered the presidential campaign of a
long shot named Barack Obama. Countless stories about big snowfalls, hot summers, the price of gas and a bevy of
features followed. In 2020, Dean joined Chicago-based NewsNation as chief political correspondent for the 2020 race
between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Dean retired in 2021, 50 years after his first job as a copy boy at UPI.
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Susan Kim
Susan Kim’s journey into broadcast journalism began when a news director in Juneau, Alaska, called to tell her she and a candidate in Michigan were the final candidates for his reporter opening. Susan asked what the deciding factor. Was it who could get to Alaska first? When he said yes, Susan got there in two days; packing her bags and flying from Washington, D.C. to Juneau to start her career.
Today, she is celebrating 30 years WTMJ-TV, after joining the station in 1994. She is honored to be a member of the Milwaukee Press Club Hall of Fame and now the Silver Circle.
Susan started on the weekend assignment desk and reported during the week. She was moved to full-time reporting within the year, covering some of southeast Wisconsin’s biggest stories. She has been nominated for several Chicago/Midwest Emmy awards, including for her work covering Wisconsin's first February tornadoes and the Azana Spa shootings.
Susan spent 19 years of her career waking up at 1:30 a.m. as co-anchor of “TMJ4 News Today,” and is the station's longest running morning news anchor. During her tenure, the morning show was recognized as “Best Morning Newscast” by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
In 2022, Susan moved to the 4:00 p.m. newscast and last year added “TMJ4 News at 6:00” to her responsibilities.
Susan believes in helping make her community a better place to live. She sat on the board of The Women’s Center, a local shelter for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.f
One of her biggest passions, though, remains a project she helped start in 2003. Pregnant with her second child, she approached management about hosting a community effort to collect baby supplies for families in need. The “TMJ4 Community Baby Shower” was born. It began as a one-day drive but has evolved into a month-long event, each January, collecting tens of thousands of items for needy families. As a mother of three children, Madeline, Gabrielle, and Alex, Susan understands the need firsthand.
Susan and the entire team are grateful that the “TMJ4 Community Baby Shower” just wrapped up its 23rd annual event.
Wisconsin
Gold Circle Honoree
Sean O'Flaherty
Sean O’Flaherty was born in Orange, New Jersey, and grew up in Newark. He filmed games for his high school’s football and baseball teams, an innovation in prep sports at the time. In 1967, he left to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison and only returned to New Jersey for visits.
In college, Sean reported on the Sterling Hall bombing for WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, joining the station full-time when he graduated in 1971. Over the next 53 years, he held virtually every role in the WTMJ newsroom, from reporter to producer to editor to photojournalist to news operations manager, a title he held for several decades. Of the more than 5,000 people employed by The E.W. Scripps Company, Sean stood alone as the longest-tenured employee.
Sean was the longest-serving founding member of Wisconsin Election Service, the nonprofit vote-gathering consortium formed by the three Milwaukee television news stations and the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1986. His technical knowledge and attention to detail were instrumental in making the organization a success to this day.
In 2021, then-Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett proclaimed June 5th “Sean O’Flaherty Day” to mark Sean’s 50th work anniversary. Barrett described Sean as a “trailblazer within the journalism community” and someone who has “earned the enduring praise, respect and gratitude of his colleagues for his exemplary leadership and devotion to the community.”
“Sean is the one who makes the entire newsroom operate. The one who has keys to all the locks. The one with knowledge of the things no one else knows about,” James Groh, WTMJ reporter, said in 2021.
Even colleagues who weren’t born when Sean reached the quarter century mark at WTMJ marveled at his expertise and friendship. Two such co-workers attended a screening of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert movie with Sean, a testament to his ability to connect with peers from many generations.
Sean died peacefully in July 2024, surrounded mainly by co-workers, following a long and courageous battle against multiple myeloma. He was 74. Though he was in hospice care, he was intently following and texting about his station’s coverage of the Republican National Convention and other stories up until about a week before his death.
Wisconsin
Silver Circle Honoree
Paul Rudolph
Paul Rudolph is the operations manager at Sinclair Broadcasting Company’s Milwaukee master control hub. His broadcasting career began in 1978 as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications. During his studies, he interned at WITI in Milwaukee, gaining valuable experience.
After graduation, Paul joined WITI part-time on the floor crew, eventually moving to a full-time role that included directing newscasts. He later transitioned to the news department, editing news stories. In 1985, Paul became a commercial production director at WVTV, where he produced local commercials and programs. He also directed the popular “Bowling Game” show until 1989 and coordinated remote production facilities for Milwaukee Brewers telecasts.
Paul’s career advanced as he became production manager at WVTV, overseeing a team of commercial directors and production staff. When WVTV was acquired by Abry Communications and merged with WCGV in 1994, Paul took on the role of operations manager, managing the on-air operations staff for the stations while continuing his production manager duties.
In 2010, a flood destroyed the technical operations of WVTV and WCGV. Station ownership decided not to rebuild the damaged location, leading to a multi-year search for a new site. With the renovation of the new location, Milwaukee became the master control hub for four television markets, including six local stations. Paul played a key role in this transition, ensuring smooth operations across Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, and St. Paul, Minnesota.
In 2019, after departmental consolidation, he shifted his focus to master control operations and high school sports productions. With more than 40 years of experience producing local television programming and commercials, including professional sports telecasts and high school football broadcasts, Paul has made significant contributions to the broadcasting industry. He is known for his dedication, teamwork, and pragmatic approach. Paul looks forward to future technological advancements in broadcasting.
Paul resides in Burlington with his wife of 39 years, Katherine. They have two adult children, Shane Rudolph, traffic copy coordinator for KDSM-TV in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dr. Tori Rudolph, postdoctoral researcher in genetics at the University of Georgia.
2025 Wisconsin Silver Circle Ceremony
Program Book
