
MAB Board Selects Three For Hall of Fame
(July 22, 2024, Portland, ME) Three broadcasters have been selected to be inducted into the Maine Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
RENE CLOUKEY
The “Suzanne Goucher Broadcast Achievement Award” Winner (which carries automatic induction into the MAB Hall of Fame) is Rene Cloukey of WAGM-TV in Presque Isle. Rene has
been a broadcaster for 48 years—and celebrated his 40th Anniversary with WAGM-TV this year.
Rene has been the voice of Aroostook County sports, be it basketball, baseball, softball, football, soccer or hockey. Rene is a member of the National Sportscaster and Sports Writers Association.
A five-time winner of Maine Sportscaster of the Year, he was inducted into the Maine Sports
Legends Hall of Fame and has been honored with the Heroes Award for his work with the Special Olympics. Cloukey has been very involved in his community, hosting the Rene Cloukey Challenge, a golf tournament to benefit the Special Olympics for the past 35 years.
BARBARA QUILL
Barbara Quill was the first female news anchor in Maine. Hired in 1973 as a Radio & TV News anchor and reporter for WGAN-AM and WGAN/WGME-TV Channel 13, where she stayed until
1984. Barbara was a household name in the Portland market, known for her journalistic skills, especially for in-depth interviews with local, state and national politicians, celebrities and world leaders. Barbara was part of the international media delegation traveling to Russia in 1983 with a young Samantha Smith. On The Tonight Show, when Johnny Carson asked her if
she had met anyone famous in Russia, Samantha replied “Barbara Quill!”
Barbara won two New England UPI Awards for her documentaries and a New England Emmy for Best Newscast
MALCOLM LEARY
Mal, who passed away last year, had a broadcasting career in Maine that spanned more than 45 years in both commercial and public Radio and TV. He was known as the “Dean of the State House Press Corps” because of his deep knowledge of politics, government and Maine history. Mal was nationally respected for his work on government transparency and freedom of information. Winner of many journalism and MAB Awards, Mal always had time to mentor young journalists learning the trade.
When Mal passed, speakers at his memorial service included Governor Janet Mills, Senator Susan Collins and other prominent politicians, judges and media luminaries.
The Inductees were selected by a Committee comprised of MAB Board members as well as past Hall of Fame inductees. Their selections were ratified by the full MAB Board of Directors at their recent July meeting.
MAB President/CEO Tim Moore remarked that the nominees were numerous. “The Committee and the Board had an exceedingly tough job this year, as there were over a dozen worthy nominees. Nominees who were not selected this year will be carried over for the next two years I’m grateful to the Committee for their careful consideration.”
The Suzanne Goucher Broadcast Achievement Award and Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at the MAB Annual Meeting and Awards Gala on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at the Sable Oaks Sheraton in South Portland, ME
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tim Moore
207-620-4891