MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association is recognizing KARE 11's Boyd Huppert for his contributions to journalism with a grant and writing competition in his name.
The Boyd Huppert Education Debt Assistance Grant and Excellence in Broadcasting Writing Competition have been established to help inspire the next generation of journalists.
“Boyd has been an inspiration for so many broadcast journalists throughout his career, we hope the grant and writing competition inspire a new generation to aspire to Boyd’s high standards for quality, creative journalism and public service,” Vetterkind said.
Huppert, who grew up on a dairy farm outside of River Falls, has spent 40 years in broadcasting since graduating from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He spent time at WSAW-TV in Wausau, KETV-TV in Omaha and Milwaukee's WITI-TV before coming to KARE in 1996. Huppert's heart-warming and inspirational storytelling has won him countless awards, and is on full display in his "Land of 10,000 Stories" series.
“As the beneficiary of a Wisconsin education, I am honored to have my name associated with this WBA writing award and debt forgiveness grant,” Huppert said. “I’m delighted for the students and young professionals this will help.”
The grant, which will be in the amount of $2,000, is aimed at helping post-secondary school graduates working in broadcast journalism. Applications will be accepted starting March 1 on the WCA Foundation website.
The writing competition will be part of the WBA Student Awards for Excellence, which opens Dec. 1 and closes Jan. 10. Huppert's award will be given for excellence in writing a single hard news, feature, documentary or sports story, with the winner earning $250, while the runner-up and third-place finishers will earn $100 and $50, respectively. Donations for Huppert's grant and writing competition are being accepted here.
“So many of us owe a great deal of our success to my dear friend Boyd, his exceptional writing, and his willingness to help others excel at crafting compelling journalistic narratives,” said WBA Education Committee Chair Mark Zoromski. “He was the key to my success in the classroom – students were so inspired by his stories that he became a hero to them.”
