WTMJ has been nominated for seven midwest Emmy awards.

This is a big deal because we compete against the Chicago stations, their resources, and their superiority complex.

I am thrilled and humbled that my team has been nominated for four awards. That is the most of any Milwaukee journalist. It is a true tribute to my producer Ira (who doesn't like me to give out his last name) and all the other fine people on my team. Thank you, Maureen Mack, Stephanie Graham, Paula Marble, Joe Eufemi and Paul Balistreri who I work with on a regular basis on projects important to our viewers. And thank you to everyone else in our building who makes valuable contributions to what I am able to do.

We haven't won anything. We've just been nominated. (Although there was fierce competition just to be nominated.) The awards ceremony takes place November 18 in Chicago.

Here is the nice press release the station put out this week...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information, Contact:

October 3, 2007 Jim Thomas

(414) 967-5293

TODAY’S TMJ4 Nominated

for Seven Midwest Emmy Awards

Milwaukee, Wis. – WTMJ-TV (TODAY’S TMJ4) has been nominated for seven Midwest Emmy awards. The 2006-2007 Midwest Emmy awards were announced last night in Chicago .

Investigative reporters John Mercure and Aaron Diamant and the I-Team investigative producers shared five Emmy nominations, four for Mercure and one for Diamant. Anchor Carole Meekins and sportscaster David Marcus were also nominated for Emmy awards.

Diamant and producer Paul Marble were nominated in the ‘Specialty Report: Health/Medical’ category for “Drug Addicted Nurses.” The groundbreaking investigation exposed nurses using or stealing drugs and the very real potential for danger it poses to Wisconsin patients.

Mercure, along with producers Maureen Mack, Ira Klusendorf, Stephanie Graham and Paul Balistreri, were nominated in the ‘Hard News Feature’ category for “Wisconsin Puppy Mills.” Over the course of a year, Mercure and his team documented deplorable conditions in some of the nation’s worst puppy mills, located right here in Wisconsin. Hidden camera video and first-hand accounts of dogs being rescued drove the powerful series.

Mercure, Mack, Klusendorf, and Balistreri also were nominated in the ‘Specialty Report: Politics/Government’ category for “Judge Me Not.” This investigative report took an inside look at a law in Wisconsin that allows alleged felons to substitute out of a judge’s courtroom for no reason.

Mercure, Mack, Balistreri, Klusendorf, Paul Marble, Joe Eufemi, Greg Best and Jeff Gallagher were nominated in the ‘Specialty Report: Business/Consumer’ category for “Locked Out, Ripped Off,” a multi-part series that took a look inside the transient locksmith industry. During numerous hidden camera sting operations, the TODAY’S TMJ4 I-Team documented questionable business practices involving out-of-town locksmiths. The I-Team then went to New York to confront the owners of the locksmith company in question.

Mercure was also nominated in the ‘Individual Excellence on Camera category’ for news reporters.

Meekins and producer Amber Walker were nominated in the ‘Informational Program’ category for the “Positively Milwaukee Special.” The local special introduced TODAY’S TMJ4 viewers to inspiring, uplifting individuals making a real difference in the Milwaukee area.

Marcus was nominated in the ‘Outstanding Sports Feature’ category for “Tackling NFL Pensions,” which looked into the NFL policy for healthcare and pensions for retired players. Marcus discovered that players injured during their career are not being cared for once their careers end.

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The station received three Emmy Awards last year for Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program – Hard News Feature (“Internet Predators”), Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program – Specialty Report (“Prescription for Death”), “Outstanding Achievement for Announcements/Campaigns – Public Service Announcement or Campaign (“Bleep Bus”).