Gates To Be Honored At Indiana Journalism HOF
INDIANAPOLIS – A longtime friend of the Kosciusko County area, the late Hilliard Gates will be among five honored in the 2018 class at this year’s Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.
Gates, a legendary sportscaster in Fort Wayne, is in the induction class with Ken Armstrong, Sandra Eisert, Larry Hayes and Thomas Tuley. The ceremony will take place May 19 at the 53rd annual Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame banquet at the Indianapolis Marriott North.
Gates began his broadcasting career at WKBZ, Muskegon, Michigan, in 1937. In 1940 he advanced to WOWO/WGL, Fort Wayne, as a studio announcer and sportscaster. In 1947, he was hired as WKJG station manager and sportscaster, and he later became its vice president and general manager. In addition to high school games, the late Gates called pro basketball games of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, Indiana, Purdue, and Notre Dame football. He broadcast an NBA All-Star game for the Mutual network and play-by-play for two Rose Bowls on NBC. Gates also re-created the historic finish in his role in the film “Hoosiers”.
Armstrong shared the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism for his work with The Marshall Project, which reports on criminal justice issues, and the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for his work at The Seattle Times. He was a finalist for the 2007 award for investigative reporting. Raised in Carmel, Armstrong is a Purdue University graduate who spent 11 years at The Seattle Times before joining the Marshall Project. He was a 2001 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and, in 2002, was the McGraw Professor of Writing at Princeton University. He joined ProPublica as a senior writer in 2017.
Eisert not only blazed the trail as the country’s first woman newspaper picture editor, she was also the first picture editor for the White House, the first woman picture editor of the Washington Post and also for the Associated Press’ Washington Bureau, where she ran the picture network for the Southern U.S. She returned to the White House staff to edit for two more presidents, more than any other editor. In addition to being the Design Director of the San Jose Mercury News and Art Director of WEST magazine, she has contributed to the editing, design or strategy of more than 90 books. As the founding journalist and designer, she set the standard for online news design with the game-changing MSNBC. Her work in university accreditation has helped create opportunities for women and minorities. David Hume Kennerly, Pulitzer-winner photographer and White House photographer for President Gerald Ford, calls her “a pioneer in the world of journalism and one of the world’s best and most influential picture editors.”
Hayes was the editorial page editor of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette for 22 years. He tackled difficult and unpopular issues and his editorials spurred changes including the desegregation of Fort Wayne elementary schools, a ban on corporal punishment in schools and a ban on smoking in city restaurants among others. Hayes had trained as a minister and was a high school English teacher when he began writing editorials for the newspaper in 1975. He was the editorial page editor from 1978 until his retirement in 2000.
Tuley, first as editor of the Evansville Press and then as editor and publisher of the Evansville Courier, led the company through a transition of ownership. In addition, he directed the design, construction and move to a new building, where the publication earned international awards for print quality. He also was a community leader, heading efforts to save an historic Evansville theater and was instrumental in campaign to build a YMCA in Brown County and a Catholic Church. He is now working on a multimodal pedestrian trail in Brown County. Tuley, a native of Evansville, started his career as a sports score taker when he was in high school. Except for a five-year stent as executive sports editor of the Cincinnati Post, Tuley spent his career in Evansville. In retirement, he has embarked on a new career as an award-winning artist.
Established in 1966, the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame honors media professionals with Indiana ties in its annual induction ceremony. It is a partner of the Indiana University Media School, which houses its archives and materials.