Borg is 2008 Shelley Award winner

Mark Minnick, 2007 winner (right), presents Dean Borg with the 2008 Shelley Award

Dean Borg of Iowa Public Television (IPTV) has been chosen as the recipient of the 2008 Jack Shelley Award by the Iowa Broadcast News Association. The award was presented at the annual IBNA convention Saturday, May 3rd, in Waterloo.

The IBNA's highest honor, the Jack Shelley Award is named for the legendary broadcaster and educator. Shelley, 96, served as news director of WHO, Des Moines, and Professor Emeritus of Journalism at Iowa State University during his 50-year career in the field.

Nominees must have made an outstanding contribution to the cause of professional broadcast journalism in Iowa, and must, at some point in their careers, have been working broadcast journalists in Iowa.   

Borg is long-time broadcaster
A graduate of Iowa State University and The University of Iowa, Borg has hosted programs on IPTV and PBS for more than 30 years. He has also been news director for the WMT Radio and Television Stations in Cedar Rapids. Borg currently is a Senior Producer/Correspondent for WSUI/Iowa Public Radio at the University of Iowa and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio (NPR).

Cary J. Hahn, the 2006 Shelley Award winner, wrote of Borg, “He was one of the first faces I saw on Iowa television when I came to the state in 1979 and I have seen him often since, providing years of valuable service to Iowa viewers in hosting and moderating the newsmakers on Iowa Press,” the program he has been a part of since it premiered in 1971.

Among his many reporting assignments was coverage of a deadly tornado in Charles City 40 years ago. He was only of only two reporters allowed into Charles City immediately following the tornado. He filed reports with WMT by phone and also shipped film back to the Cedar Rapids station.