Rufus N. Rhodes Leadership in Media Award Voting Headquarters

Welcome to the public vote page for the Rufus N. Rhodes Leadership in Media awards.

Listed here are the polls for each category: individual, organization and posthumous. Vote for the journalists or media organization who you would like to see recognized for their work. The polls will be open through August 8, at 5 p.m.

Winners will be announced at a live, invitation-only event Sept. 8, during Media Night at Vulcan Park & Museum.

INDIVIDUAL ( Vote Now )

Matt Murphy, host of The Matt Murphy Radio Program that airs on WAPI 1070 AM: Murphy’s radio program features news stories, interviews and commentary about issues affecting the Birmingham region and provides a forum for listeners to speak to and question major political figures.

Rahkia Nance & Robert K. Gordon, metro reporters at The Birmingham News: Nance and Gordon wrote a series of articles in 2007 and 2008 chronicling police and city hall corruption in Lipscomp, a city located in the west part of the Birmingham region. The investigation by the newspaper led to the resignation of the mayor and felony charges against two of the city’s councilmen.

Michael Tomberlin, business reporter at The Birmingham News: Tomberlin, a major in the Alabama National Guard’s Light Infantry Embedded Training Team #4, spent the past year on active duty in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan he filed more than 250 blog entries and thousands of pictures under the title “Yellowhammering Afghanistan.” He also wrote 12 dispatches in an attempt to better explain to the Birmingham region several aspects of the Afghan culture and the experiences of the soldiers there.

Sarah Verser, reporter and anchor at Fox 6: Verser delivers stories for the series “What’s Right with Our Schools” that are shown regularly on the Fox 6 newscasts. During a time when many viewers complain that the media only covers bad stories, Verser works to show the Birmingham region about the positive things happening in area schools.

ORGANIZATION ( Vote Now )

ABC 33/40: WBMA anchor Pam Huff and reporter Kevyn Stewart delivered a 20 part series to viewers titled “Birmingham – Waking up to its Future.” For six months, they developed comprehensive stories detailing areas of growth in the city and areas where growth is stagnant. They put Birmingham and its leadership under a microscope by comparing it to Denver, CO and its metropolitan area.

CBS 42: WIAT anchor Sherri Jackson delivered a six-part series to viewers titled “AIDS from Alabama to Africa.” The series explored the issues of AIDS as a worldwide pandemic, the alarming infection rate of African-American women, the church response to AIDS, young people and AIDS, UAB’s involvement in the study of AIDS and the story of a Gadsden mission worker who contracted AIDS after being raped.

FOX 6: WBRC anchor Ronda Robinson and photographer Vincent Parker produced weekly “Problem Solved” reports as part of the regular series “Fox 6 on Your Side.” The team logged concerns from viewer calls and emails, investigated those concerns and got resolutions. They also did in-depth investigations on the quality of body armor for Birmingham police and how some local restaurants were doing a “bait-and-switch” on a Southern delicacy.

POSTHUMOUS - Lifetime career ( Vote Now )

Raymond Hurlbert, a leader in national public broadcasting: Hurlbert was a pioneer in national public broadcasting and recognized as having established and developed Alabama’s public broadcasting network, the first in the nation. Hurlbert was also responsible for securing FCC allocation and legislative funding and for construction of each of the state public broadcasting stations. His frequent testimony before Congress was a major factor in the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.

Ingrid Kindred, longtime reporter at The Birmingham News: Kindred was the first black woman hired at The Birmingham News as a professional reporter. She covered almost every beat in the newsroom during a career that spanned more than 25 years. Kindred first worked at The News as an intern in 1969. After graduating from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1970, she returned to The News as a general assignment reporter. She reported until she retired in 1998. Her experience in covering Birmingham issues and knowledge of her hometown made her an invaluable resource for her colleagues at the paper.