REPORTERS, ENTERTAINERS, AND NETWORK FOUNDER AMONG HALL OF FAME HONOREES

Carmel, Ind. – July 1, 2019 – Four Hoosier broadcasters will soon become the newest inductees into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame.   The Indiana Broadcasters Association today announced the 2019 class that includes morning show radio host and TV anchor/reporter Ann Craig-Cinnamon, TV anchor and editor James David Longest, TV journalist Linda Lupear, and TV program manager and network founder Ed Spray.

“We are honored to recognize Ann, James, Linda, and Ed for their commitment to our industry and their work to inform and entertain audiences throughout Indiana and the nation.  This 2019 class joins a long list of people who have built a remarkable record of accomplishment in broadcasting, and we’re grateful to the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers for helping us identify worthy candidates for this recognition,” said Dave Arland, Executive Director of the Indiana Broadcasters Association.  The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation provides funding to ensure that that the Hall of Fame inductees are properly recognized with video segments at the Indiana State Museum.

This year’s Hall of Fame class will be inducted on Thursday, October 24th at lunch during the annual Indiana Broadcasters Conference in Carmel.  Registration for the event is open now at IBAConference.com.

Ann Craig-Cinnamon

After beginning her radio career at the legendary Indianapolis station WIFE-AM, Ann Craig-Cinnamon quickly moved to WNAP-FM, becoming the first woman to be a major part of a radio morning show in Indianapolis when she joined the morning team in the late 1970s.

In the 1980s, she served as the News Director for Network Indiana, the statewide news-gathering and reporting radio network. In a broadcasting career that spanned nearly 30 years on radio and TV in Indianapolis, Ann would go on to make a name for herself as the host of successful radio morning shows on WZPL-FM, WENS-FM, WYJZ-FM and WHHH-FM.

In 1983, she was instrumental in putting WPDS-TV (now WXIN) on the air as one of its original reporters and serving as the station’s Public Affairs Director.

During her nine-year run as host of the morning show at WENS-FM, Ann lead the effort to raise money for Riley Hospital for Children through the annual 97-Hour Riley Radiothon.  Those radiothons raised more than $2 million for the local hospital.  Later, as the morning show host on Smooth Jazz 100.9 WYJZ-FM, she spearheaded a fundraiser for the New Life Home orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.

James David Longest

James David Longest (who goes by the “on air” name David James) started his journalism career writing and editing posts at Bosse High School’s newspaper and yearbook. He went on to become editor of the Crescent, the University of Evansville’s weekly newspaper.

David received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a Masters in Humanities while working evenings writing obituaries for The Evansville Courier and writing features part-time for The Evansville Sunday Courier and Press.  After graduation, he worked full-time at the latter, covering education and police beats before moving on as a reporter-anchor at WGBF-AM (Evansville).

In late 1973, David began a 41-year career at WFIE-TV, becoming evening anchor and managing editor.  His work took him to the White House, United Nations, the Gulf Coast, England, Germany, and the Ukraine.  He also moderated several televised debates for mayor and the U.S. Senate and was a fixture on the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon in Evansville for more than 30 years.  Additionally, he has served on numerous community boards and committees.

James currently works part-time at an NPR affiliate, WNIN-FM in Evansville as host of a weekly, radio interview program ,”Two Main Street.”

Linda Lupear

Linda Lupear’s career as a television journalist spans nearly four decades.  After graduating from Butler University, she joined the newsroom at WISH-TV to become one of the first women hired as a general assignment news reporter in the Indianapolis market.

Linda spent seven years at WISH-TV, the first woman in the Indianapolis market to produce and anchor newscasts and covered the Indianapolis schools desegregation trial.  She moved to WRTV in 1973 and would spend the next 24 years at the station.

During her tenure at WRTV, Linda focused on the local education beat and established a health beat to explore medical and hospital issues, problems and trends.  She also covered major federal prosecutions including the Kimberlin bombing trial and scored a number of exclusive interviews and stories including with Roger Drollinger right before he turned himself in for the murder of four brothers in Hollandsburg, Indiana in 1977 and the Tony Kiritsis trial.  Linda’s more than three-decade career as a reporter in Indianapolis made her one of the longest serving women reporters in the city and state.

 


Ed Spray

Seymour native Ed Spray earned his bachelor’s degree in radio-television with a minor in journalism from Indiana University.  He worked as a producer-director for IU Radio and Television Services and then became a film editor and cameraman at WISH-TV in Indianapolis.

In 1966, Ed became producer-director for WMAQ-TV, Chicago, and won five Emmy Awards over his years there. In 1974, he moved across town to WBBM-TV, the CBS-owned station where as program director he led one of commercial television’s most honored programming operations winning nearly all of television’s best-known awards, including National Emmys, two Peabody Awards, and more than 75 local Emmys. Ed transferred to CBS-owned KCBS-TV in Los Angeles in 1986 and served as station manager before being promoted to vice president of programming and development for all CBS-owned stations.

In 1994, Ed joined the E.W. Scripps Company where he was a co-founder of the Home and Garden Cable Television Network, HGTV. The company later acquired the Food Network and under Ed’s leadership launched two more cable networks—DIY and Fine Living.  Ed retired as president of Scripps Networks in 2005.

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