Ron Steele Inducted Into IBA Hall of Fame

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim McKernan, V.P./General Manager
Phone: 319-291-1200

Iowa Broadcasters Association honors long-serving anchor

Ron Steele was inducted into the Iowa Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame at a ceremony in West Des Moines today. The 44-year (and counting) veteran of KWWL was recognized for his extensive broadcast career which has covered the entire state of Iowa and beyond.

“I am extremely honored to be inducted into the Iowa Broadcaster's Association Hall of Fame.  It's quite humbling to be joining a group which includes so many influential Iowans. I thank the Iowa Broadcaster's Association for this honor, and its recognition of my work in broadcasting over the past four decades."   

“This is an exceptional recognition for an exceptional man,” said Jim McKernan, VP/General Manager of KWWL. “His career is filled with history making moments, and he’s never been one to rest on his laurels. He has just as much enthusiasm as he did when he began his career, and the energy and drive as a reporter on their first day. It is not hyperbole to refer to him as a ‘living legend.’”

“Ron is the embodiment of professionalism and work ethic to journalists no matter where they are in their career,” said Allison Gibson, KWWL News Director. “He is a leader in our newsroom, but humble enough to learn something new from those around him. It’s an honor to work with him.”

Ron joins Bill Bolster, RJ McElroy, Grant Price, George Dorrington, and Robert Buckmaster as the sixth KWWL inductee into the IBA Hall of Fame.

On the following pages of this release is the nomination letter submitted for Ron’s induction consideration.

Quincy Media, Inc. is a privately held family owned company with roots in the newspaper business dating back to 1835.  QMI was formed in 1926 with the merger of The Quincy Herald and The Quincy Whig-Journal.

The company owns and/or operates NBC affiliates in Quincy, Peoria and Rockford Illinois, Waterloo and Sioux City, Iowa, Rochester and Duluth, Minnesota, Ft. Wayne, IN and Bluefield, West Virginia. QMI also operates ABC affiliates in Ft. Wayne, IN, Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, and Eagle River, Wisconsin. CBS affiliates in Binghamton, NY and Duluth, MN. FOX affiliates in Rochester, MN and South Bend, Indiana. CW affiliates in Duluth and Rochester, MN, Sioux City, IA, Wausau, La Crosse and Eau Claire, WI, Quincy and Rockford, IL, Ft. Wayne, IN, Binghamton, NY, and in Waterloo, IA starting in Fall of 2016. QMI also owns and operates an AM-FM radio combination in Quincy and daily/Sunday newspapers in Quincy, Illinois and Newton, New Jersey. 

NOMINATION FOR IOWA BROADCASTER’S ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME
RON STEELE - KWWL TELEVISION

In Iowa and around the world Ron Steele has reported history in the making for the viewers of KWWL for over 44 years. With his lengthy and momentous career so far, Ron is a deserving journalist/anchor for consideration of induction into the IBA Hall of Fame.

He was live in Saudi Arabia for the Persian Gulf War during Desert Storm. He was at the White House when the American hostages came home from Iran, which included Iowan Kathryn Koob. As you might imagine, Ron secured the interview with Kathryn, one of the 52 hostages and one of the two women held for the entire 444 days.

One of Ron's favorite assignments took him on board Air Force One to interview President George Bush (41) as the President flew from New Mexico to Iowa for an address in Des Moines. In addition to 41, Ron has personally interviewed dozens of presidential candidates over the years in connection with the Iowa caucuses, including Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Along with numerous IBNA (Iowa Broadcast News Association) News and Sports awards, including Spot News and Sports Story of the Year, the IBNA has also honored Ron with its highest honor, the Jack Shelley Award. If that wasn’t enough, Ron is a multiple first place recipient of the IBNA's Excellence in Anchoring Award.  He is a member of the University of Iowa Hall of Fame, through the School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences also recognized Ron with its Silver Circle Award during the annual Upper Midwest Emmy Awards program in 2011. He is a multiple Emmy award winner and nominee.

Ron has interviewed hundreds of newsmakers and personalities over his career, including more than three hundred during his weekly news and public affairs program, The Steele Report. The show, a weekly forum for local, regional and national newsmakers has become a staple of eastern Iowa public service programming.

Some of his most memorable interview subjects include Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Coleen Rowley, George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Lance Armstrong, Kurt Warner, Kirk Ferentz, Olympic Gold Medalist Dan Gable and Nobel Peace Prize winners Desmond Tutu and AI Gore. The list goes on and on.

While Ron enjoys exploring world and local events, some of his most memorable experiences involved Iowa children, like Jeremy, a nine-year-old boy dying of cancer. He called Ron from his hospital bed to ask if KWWL could do a story about the Make-A-Wish foundation which granted Jeremy's dying wish for a trip to Florida. Because of that story, Ron became a charter board member for the former Make-A-Wish of Northeast Iowa.

A crowd of 60,000 jammed downtown Cedar Rapids to watch Ron carry the Olympic Torch and ignite the cauldron during the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay. Later that summer, Ron anchored KWWL's Summer Olympic coverage from Atlanta.

Thanks to the warm response and generosity of KWWL viewers, Ron's award-winning Iowa's Child adoption program was one of the longest running news series in Iowa. Through Iowa's Child, some 200 of Iowa's hard-to-place, "special needs" children have found loving families and permanent homes. In 2008, The Coalition for Family and Children's Services in Iowa honored Ron with its 'Friend of Children' Award, also given to Iowa Governor Chet Culver.

From Civitan International Club 'Citizen of the Year' to The University of Iowa Homecoming Parade Grand Marshal, hundreds of organizations have recognized Ron for news reporting and community involvement over the past 43 years.

Ron chaired the Community Committee, which helped raise the funds to build the $11 million Five Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in downtown Waterloo. He also co-chaired the Cedar Valley United Way campaign in the 2012, setting an all-time donation record that stands to this day.

Ron spent 8 years on the Board of Directors for The University of Iowa Alumni Association, serving as board chair in 2102-13.

Ron joined KWWL in 1974 as Sports Director, and was the original play-by-play voice of the Iowa Television Network. He also did play-by-play telecasts for NBC Sports and ESPN, including the Women's College Basketball Finals and NCAA II Wrestling Finals. He still enjoys sports reporting, and has brought KWWL viewers "live" reports from such events as the Super Bowl, NCAA Basketball Tournament and The Heisman Trophy presentation at New York City's Downtown Athletic Club.

For nearly 10-years, Ron taught Electronic Media writing at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, and has volunteered for numerous community organizations over the years, including the Cedar Valley Sports and Entertainment Commission.

Ron still enjoys appearances at more than one hundred engagements a year on what he calls 'the emcee, speaking and banquet circuit' all across Iowa. Additionally, every fall, he shoots high school football games for KWWL’s Friday Night Heroes program.

Ron is an avid runner, completing 10 marathons and many 5 & 1OK races. Ron and his daughter, Katie, ran the Chicago marathon together in 2008.  In January of 2017, Ron underwent quadruple bypass open heart surgery. The surgery was a complete success, and Ron returned to work in April with what doctors in Iowa City called "a new heart and a 35-year warranty." As a community service to get out the message about heart disease, Ron chronicled his story in a special KWWL report on television and web to encourage people to see their doctors for heart screenings.

Born in Washington, Iowa, in 1950, Ron grew up in Wapello, and is a 1973 graduate of the University of Iowa.

Ron and his wife, Candy, have been married 44 years and have three grown children and four grandchildren.

Ron, in his 44th year with KWWL, co-anchors KWWL News at 5, KWWL News at 6 and KWWL News at 10 with Abby Turpin.