John Ferrugia, a longtime investigative reporter at Denver ABC-affiliate KMGH, has been awarded the Missorui School of Journalism’s Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism for 2012.

“It’s humbling,” Ferrugia told the Denver Post. “When I got the letter, I had to check to make sure it was to me. I was stunned. This is not something that you apply for. It just came out of the blue.”

Ferrugia, one of 10 recipients, will be presented with the award in October. According to the Post, other winners this year include New York editor-in-chief Adam Moss, Washington Post investigative reporter Jeff Leen and the New York Times graphics department.

WMAQ political reporter Mary Ann Ahern will receive the Chicago Headline Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award next month, according to Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder.

Ahern joined the Chicago NBC O&O in 1989 and has been the station’s lead political reporter since 2006. In addition to being recognized for her political reporting, she was the first Chicago television reporter to file reports from Rome on the death of Pope John Paul II, according to her WMAQ bio.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell will also be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award on May 4.

WRAL sports anchor Tom Suiter was inducted over the weekend into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.

Suiter has worked at the Raleigh-Durham CBS-affiliate since 1971. In 1981, he created “Football Friday,” a weekly show that features high school football highlights which he still anchors today.

The longtime sports anchor said he was “very honored” by the induction but said he was not sure he belonged in the Hall of Fame, recognizing “the coaches, the administrators, the athletic directors — those are the men and women who are around the kids every day,” according to the Technician Online. Read more

KXAS, the NBC O&O in Dallas, has won the Texas Freedom of Information Award, presented annually by the Texas AP Broadcasters and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

The winning piece, by investigative reporter Scott Friedman and researcher Shane Allen, followed a trail of police records to see what the consequences were for drivers who were caught going more than 100 miles per hour in several North Texas cities.

“We spent months searching through municipal court records and stacks of traffic tickets because we felt this was an important story to pursue,” Friedman said in a statement. “It really affects the safety of everyone on our roads.”  Watch the report inside… Read more

The RTDNA has announced the winners of the 2012 Regional Edward R. Murrow awards.

Radio, television and online winners, divided into small and large markets, were selected from more than 3,500 entries. The RTDNA says this year is “one of the most competitive Edward R. Murrow Awards seasons in RTDNA history.”

Large market overall excellence winners were KING in Seattle, KTVU in Oakland, KMGH in Denver, KARE in Minneapolis, KMBC in Kansas City, KHOU in Houston, WTHR in Indianapolis, WLKY in Louisville, WIAT in Birmingham, WCVB in Boston, KDKA in Pittsburgh, WSB in Atlanta and CIVT in Vancouver. Read more

Several local stations have won Sigma Delta Chi awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Awards were given to a small-market and large-market station in five categories — breaking news coverage, documentaries, feature reporting, investigative reporting and public service in television journalism.

Large market winners were WISH in Indianapolis, KLAS in Las Vegas, News 12 Westchester, KPHO in Phoenix and WIVB in Buffalo. Small market station winners were WGXA in Macon, GA, KOMU in Columbia, KCRG in Cedar Rapids, WVUE in New Orleans and WTWO in Terre Haute, IN.

A full list of local news winners is after the jump. Read more

KRGV in Welasco, TX and KWTV-KOTV in Oklahoma City are winners of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation’s 2012 National Service Awards.

KRGV will be awarded the Service to America Television Award for efforts to “encourage education and positive change through dedicated air-time, shows and PSAs,” according to the NABEF release. Among other things, the station hosted a canned goods drive that assembled 3,000 baskets of food for families.

KWTV-KOTV will be presented the Service to Children Award for focusing on child hunger. The station aired PSAs and a minimum of two stories per month on the issue, as well as posting on social media and hosting promotional events. Read more

Five local stations have won 2012 Peabody Awards: KING in Seattle, KPHO in Phoenix, KLAS in Las Vegas, WEWS in Cleveland and KLRU in Austin.

KLRU, a PBS station, won an Institutional Peabody Award for “Austin City Limits.” The show is in its 37th season, making it the world’s longest running live music television program. KLAS won for “Desert Underwater,” a series of reports on the housing crisis in Las Vegas. In one installment, investigative reporter George Knapp discovered he was a victim of the mortgage fraud he was reporting on.

>Related, TVNewser: CNN, ABC, CBS, The BBC and Al Jazeera Among 2012 Peabody Award Winners

Veteran sportscaster Bob Wolff was recognized this week by Guinness World Records for having the longest career as a sports broadcaster.

The 91-year-old Wolff has been sportscasting for 73 years, our sister site FishbowlNY reports. He has been at News 12 Long Island since it launched in 1986 and has no plans to retire.

“His genius and relentless work ethic have been an inspiration [to] stores of young sports professionals at News 12 and elsewhere,” News 12 Long Island news director Pat Dolan said. “Whenever Bob’s on the air, he makes us better. We’re thrilled that he’s agreed to stay onboard.” Read more at FishbowlNY

Schurz Communications president Marci Burdick was presented with the First Amendment Service Award at RTDNF’s 22nd annual First Amendment Dinner and Awards in Washington, DC last night.

In her speech, Burdick, who is a former news director of Springfield’s KYTV, praised local television, saying stations’ contributions to local communities “should not be overlooked.”

“On this dais tonight, I consider myself the representative of local television,” she said. “I am thankful to accept the First Amendment Service award in honor of those men and women who do this work everyday.”

Shurz Communications is the owner of 13 local stations in nine markets. Burdick was introduced by Jeffrey Marks, general manager of Roanoake’s WDBJ.

For more on the awards dinner, visit TVNewser.