On June 8, six radio and television veterans were inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame. At the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association’s (MBA) 15th annual awards ceremony, nearly 300 people gathered in Quincy, Mass., to witness the occasion.
Among the radio inductees are WBZ(AM)’s news reporter and “poet laureate” Carl Stevens; Spanish-language radio station entrepreneur Patrick Costa; and Lesley University Communications Professor and former rock and roll DJ Donna L. Halper. The three were selected by an MBA committee earlier in the year, joining a group of more than 150 past honorees in the state’s hall of fame.
Halper, now a radio consultant as well as an educator, also received the Hall of Fame Pioneer Award during the ceremony — the first woman to receive the distinction. Hall of Fame Committee Chair Peter Brown said this particular award is given “to individuals who have distinguished themselves over decades for lasting contributions made to the broadcast industry and through a leadership role in their particular craft.” Halper is also a frequent Radio World contributor.
The TV broadcasters inducted include retired WCVB(TV) sports anchor Mike Lynch; the late videographer Therman Toon from Boston’s Channel 7; and the late WBZ(TV) reporter Bill Shields.
Honorary “presenters” for the radio inductees were José M. Villafañe, the managing partner for Costa Media, for Inductee Pat Costa; longtime late-night Boston radio personality Morgan White Jr. for Inductee Donna Halper; and Jeff Brown, the long-time morning drive news anchor for WBZ NewsRadio 1030 for Inductee Carl Stevens.
