by Access Press staff and Board
Award-winning broadcast journalist Boyd Huppert will emcee the November 3 Access Press Award Celebration/Fundraiser November 3. The event will be held at the university of Minnesota McNamara Center.
Huppert is a skilled storyteller, award-winning journalist and longtime producer/host of KARE TV’s Land of 10,000 Stories. He’ll share a compilation of some of his stories featuring people who live with disabilities.
Huppert will also discuss the role of Access Press as an essential and crucial source of information for Minnesotans with disabilities and the general public.
Huppert has been described as “one of the most admired and celebrated TV reporters in the country” by the Star Tribune. During his 40-year career in television news, Huppert has become widely known for his work as a video storyteller and teacher.
He is marking his 28th year at KARE. In addition to his reporting duties, Huppert serves as National Storytelling Coach for the 49 newsrooms of TEGNA, KARE’s owner.
He has presented hundreds of visual storytelling workshops across the United States and abroad. He has served for nearly three decades as a faculty member at the Advanced Storytelling Workshop, sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association.
His work as a reporter has earned some of journalism’s highest honors, including 22 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, multiple National Headliner and Sigma Delta Chi Awards, the Scripps Howard Award, the national Emmy for feature reporting and 148 regional Emmys.
In 2023, the Radio Television Digital News Foundation presented Huppert with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Also in 2023, the National Press Photographers Association bestowed on Huppert the Founder’s Award, the NPPA’s highest honor. This fall, Huppert will be inducted in the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In 2016, Huppert was inducted into the Emmy Silver Circle, recognizing career contributions to the television industry.
Prior to his arrival at KARE, he worked at WITI-TV in Milwaukee, KETV in Omaha, and WSAW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Huppert grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and graduated with a journalism degree from UW-River Falls, where he was named the university’s 2013 distinguished alumnus.
The event also features the presentation of the Charlie Smith Award, which honors the founding editor of Access Press. Nominees should be Minnesota individuals or groups working to improve the lives of Minnesotans with disabilities.
Deadline to submit nominations is 5 p.m. July 31. More information is on page 3.
Past winners said the award is a meaningful tribute. “Charlie was a good friend, who lived by grit and determination,” said Margot Imdieke Cross, the first award winner in 2003. “His goal at Access Press was to share our stories and experiences, thereby advancing our community and improving communication. Receiving the first Charlie Smith Award was a huge honor and I will continue to remember Charlie with fondness and respect.”
“His goal at Access Press was to share our stories and experiences, thereby advancing our community and improving communication. Receiving the first Charlie Smith Award was a huge honor and I will continue to remember Charlie with fondness and respect.”
Margot Imdieke Cross
Jeff Bangsberg won the award in 2011. “It was an honor to receive this award because I had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Charlie Smith,” he said. “It also meant a lot to be recognized by the disability community for my years of work in promoting public policies for Minnesotans with disabilities. I was humbled to see all the people who came to the dinner when I received the award.”
For an award form, contact us at newspaper at [email protected] to receive a form. If help is needed with a form call 651-644-2133 ext. 1 for assistance or accommodations.
Plan ahead to attend this fun event. It starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday November 3 with a reception and registration. the dinner and program are at 6:30 p.m. the program includes the Charlie Smith Award presentation and a tribute to the late Tim Benjamin, long-time Access Press executive director/editor.
Individual tickets are $75. A table for eight is $600. A scholarship ticket, for someone who might otherwise be unable to attend, is also $75 per person.
Read more about our first sponsors on page 7. For information on sponsorship and donor opportunities, please contact Jane Larson or Catherine Hunter at [email protected]
Tax deductible donations of scholarship tickets cost $75 per ticket. These donations will be used to provide seats at the table for members of our community who would otherwise be unable to attend.
Call 612-562-7803 to ask about tickets. A link for tickets is also on the Access Press website, at www.accesspress.org
