MILWAUKEE, WI— The Milwaukee Press Club 2024 Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism competition winners were announced at Friday’s Gridiron Awards at The Pfister Hotel.
“We had another strong contest year in terms of the number of entries,” said Maryann Lazarski, club president. “We’re pleased to honor the outstanding work of Wisconsin journalists.”
Oshkosh native Jim VandeHei, co-founder and CEO of Axios, was named the club’s 2025 Sacred Cat Award honoree. The award, given annually since 1973, recognizes excellence in journalism at the national level.
Past Sacred Cat honorees include James Bennet, Manu Raju, Cokie Roberts, Gloria Borger, Frank Deford, Marty Baron, Ann Compton and Walter Cronkite.
The club also honored its 2025 Headliners community service award winners, Mark Murphy, retiring Green Bay Packers president and CEO; and Sherrie Tussler, CEO Emeritus of the Hunger Task Force. The Headliner awards recognize Wisconsin leaders from politics, business, sports, religion, entertainment, education and the media.
Past Headliner honorees include former Wisconsin Governors Tommy Thompson and Martin Schreiber, Howard Fuller, Ted Kellner, Ricardo Diaz, Linda Mellowes, Michael Pink, Barry Alvarez, Jane Pettit, Bud Selig, James Lovell, Ben Marcus and Steve Marcus.
Founded in 1885, the Milwaukee Press Club is the oldest continuously operating press club in North America. Its members represent a diverse community of media-focused professionals from nearly every local media outlet, a strong contingent of public relations and marketing professionals and others with an interest in journalism and news media.
Learn more about our honorees in the Milwaukee Press Club’s Once A Year online magazine.
View past Sacred Cat Awards
Past Headliner Awards
Thank you to our Gridiron event sponsors:
Mueller Communications
Kane Communications
