Hall of Fame Welcomes Seven New Members

The Omaha Press Club Journalists of Excellence Hall of Fame welcomed seven new members on June 8, 2024. Since 2008, the Omaha Press club has been honoring the most notable area journalists from both the past and present.

The newest inductees include:

• Marcia K. Cady, KMTV, WOWT
  
• Vonn Jones, KETV
• Josefina Loza, Omaha World-Herald, University of Nebraska at Omaha’s The Gateway, Lozafina
• Ray Metoyer, WOWT, NABJ (posthumous)
• Roger Prai, KMTV News
• James R. Quinn, United Press International (posthumous)
• Tom Shatel, Omaha World-Herald

Marcia K. Cady, KMTV, WOWT
Marcia Cady caught the broadcasting bug as a reporter at her hometown radio station. Television hooked her then with stints at KTTC in Rochester, Minnesota; WOI in Des Moines, Iowa; and KMTV and WOWT in Omaha. Then the Senate campaigns of Senator Ben Nelson drew her into media relations. Cady secured similar roles at NPPD, Cox Communications and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska. She is also a past president of the OPC. 

Cady has a daughter, Kate, son-in-law Glenn, granddaughter Clara, and a grandson on the way.

Vonn Jones, KETV

Vonn Jones concluded a 38-year career with KETV upon his retirement as News Director in December 2023. His career in journalism began in high school as a sports and feature reporter for the Aurora News-Register. But his passion to be a broadcaster started in grade school and took root at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he served four years as a student assistant at KRNU Radio and worked for radio stations KLMS and KFRX. 

It was at UNL where he received an internship with KETV. The internship led to part-time photographer positions at KETV. Jones graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UNL in 1985 and began a full-time career as an on-air reporter for KETV. By 1988 he was producing newscasts until his departure in 1990 for a producing position at WITI-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In Milwaukee, Jones’ weekly sports program won WITI its first regional Emmy award.

In 1993, Jones returned home to KETV as the station's 10 p.m. newscast producer. He became Executive Producer in 1995 and Assistant News Director in 1998. In 2018, Jones succeeded his longtime partner Rose Ann Shannon to become KETV News Director. 

Josefina Loza, Omaha World-Herald, University of Nebraska at Omaha's The Gateway, Lozafina

A journalist with more than 25 years of experience, Josefina Loza worked for the Omaha World-Herald, Associated Press, Colorado Springs Gazette, Omaha Magazine, Huffington Post, The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s The Gateway, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Momaha.com, a parenting site operated by the World-Herald. 

Loza is the founder and CEO of Lozafina, a Latina-owned branding, marketing, and public relations firm rooted in Omaha, Nebraska, that offers a wide range of services, including communication strategy, brand messaging, media relations, social media marketing, and multimedia storytelling. She recently authored a motivational book, titled “Resilience in Words,” and was honored as the Midlands Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, the Omaha Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Omahans, and named one of Omaha’s most influential Latinas in Media, gracing the cover of El Perioco's 2020 Directorio.

Ray Metoyer, WOWT, NABJ (posthumous)

Raymond Anthony Metoyer was born on July 10, 1951 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Metoyer graduated from Creighton Prep and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He spent his summers working at the family barbecue restaurant — Metoyer’s Barbecue. As a student at UNL, he covered college sports for WOWT, leading to a full-time job. He eventually anchored the weekend news broadcast. His journalism career spanned more than four decades and took him across the country. He worked as a reporter or anchor at television stations in Denver, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and Little Rock. 

Metoyer was often the only Black newscaster on the air. He was executive producer at the Black Family Channel where he oversaw the production of specials and documentaries on the singer Della Reese, the murder of Emmett Till, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He also interviewed then-Senator Barak Obama. His awards included five regional Emmy awards and National Association of Journalism (NABJ) awards for excellence. 

Metoyer managed the daily coverage of the Georgia legislature for Georgia Public Broadcasting and he also produced promotional videos for Habitat for Humanity. He was a longtime and dedicated member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, serving on the national board. Throughout his career, he made a point of mentoring and encouraging younger journalists. Promoting understanding and communication was his life’s focus. Metoyer passed away on July 21, 2023 after a long battle with cancer. He was 72 years old.

Roger Prai, KMTV News

Roger Prai attended high school in Des Moines, Iowa — but wanting to see if there was more to the world than the cornfields of Iowa — he enlisted in the U.S. Army for three years. While in the military, Prai read a book on journalism, and then began a correspondence course on it. 

After his military service ended, Prai enrolled at the Municipal University of Omaha, majoring in journalism. He worked on the campus newspaper for three years and worked his way through college in the Communications Department at the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute. While at the university, Prai earned a Walter H. Panko scholarship from the Omaha Press Club. 

After graduation, Prai began work at KMTV News, where he worked for the next 27 years. It was three months in before Roger summoned enough courage to ask his boss how much he made. 

He began as a reporter/photographer, but as time went on, he worked primarily as a news photographer, but still occasionally filling in as a reporter. While at KMTV, he worked at various intervals as the assignment editor, then senior photographer of the video staff. 

Prai earned many state and regional awards as well as national recognition for a documentary he shot on the economic challenges facing farmers that he co-produced with Marcia Cady. He served as the Omaha Press Club Membership Chairman, and on the Board of Directors. He also served a term as State Treasurer for the Society of Professional Journalists. 

Prai’s wife, Barbara, passed away from COVID three years ago. Prai now lives in a Dallas suburb, Allen, Texas, where family members asked him to come after his wife’s death. He now lives in a community for seniors.

James R. Quinn, United Press International (posthumous)

Jim Quinn graduated from Creighton University in 1949 with a degree in journalism. He began his career with United Press International (UPI) in downtown Omaha, serving 26 years as Bureau Chief. 

Quinn covered the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee by the American Indian Movement (AIM). He developed an exceptional working relationship with AIM leader Russell Means that allowed him to obtain firsthand information as the standoff with the FBI developed. Remarkably, Quinn was the first reporter to obtain a copy of the treaty agreement to end the conflict. Undetected by competing journalists, Quinn crawled 100 yards through a cornfield to his vehicle to scramble quickly to Rapid City to file his story. Leading newspapers throughout the country used UPI’s coverage of the event. According to Quinn’s son Kevin, “He would do anything to get the story right and get it out as quickly as he could!”

During his career, Quinn was a mentor, teacher, and friend of many journalists. After the Chicago UPI office where he was executive editor closed, Quinn became an editor of a book company, and then returned to Omaha to work for the Midlands Business Journal. 

Quinn was also a founding member of the Omaha Press Club and served as president in the early 1960s.

Tom Shatel, Omaha World-Herald

Tom Shatel is the Omaha World-Herald’s lead sports columnist and author of two books, “Red Zone: The Greatest Victories in the History of Nebraska Football” and “Tom’s Take on 20 Unforgettable Years of Sports.” 

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Shatel graduated from the University of Missouri in 1980 with a bachelor of journalism degree. He worked at the Kansas City Star-Times on the college sports beat from 1980-1989, the short-lived St. Louis Sun for less than a year (1989-90), the Dallas Morning News from 1990-1991, and has been a sports columnist for the Omaha World-Herald since Sept. 1, 1991. He has covered over 30 college football national championship games, 20 Final Fours, 12 Masters, five Super Bowls, the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics, the 1984 British Open, and the Whiffle Ball Classic in Dundee.

Shatel is a past president of the Omaha Press Club, a “Face on the Barroom Floor,” and the host of occasional “Shatel Series” lunches at the Press Club. He has been named the Nebraska Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association on five occasions and is a three-time Top 10 columnists as recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. He is a former president of the Football Writers Association of America and the United States Basketball Writers Association.