During this year’s annual NIU journalism banquet, the late Paul Hogan of WMAQ-TV in Chicago will be awarded the 1993 Illinois Journalist of the Year award by the NIU journalism department.

The banquet is slated for 6:30 p.m. on April 16 in the Blackhawk Room at the Holmes Student Center.

ogan, who died Jan. 31 at age 48, is the 22nd winner of the

annual statewide award and the first to receive the honor posthumously.

The award will be accepted on his behalf by co-worker and friend Doug Longhini, who heads WMAQ-TV’s “Unit 5” investigative team.

Daniel Riffe, chair of NIU’s journalism department, said Hogan was selected by a committee of journalism faculty members and leaders of several student journalism groups.

“Hogan was selected from a strong list of candidates, and with his intense and committed style of news reporting proving to be the major factor that tipped the scales in his favor,” Riffe said.

Hogan, who died from a heart attack, was known as an aggressive reporter who often broke stories before others. His obituaries included praise from colleagues who called him “a brilliant journalist” and “a crusading investigative reporter in the best tradition of Chicago journalism.”

Starting as a field producer for WMAQ-TV 16 years ago, Hogan became a full-time reporter in 1979. He did both general assignment reporting in Chicago and elsewhere, while also working on local investigative reports.

Hogan won nine local Emmy awards, nine Associated Press awards, including “Best Reporter of the Year” five times, two United Press International awards, two Peter Lisagor awards and an award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association.

As with previous years winners, a scholarship will be awarded in Hogan’s name at the banquet.

Student awards that will be presented include the Society of Professional Journalism award, the George M. Crowson award, the Sara Barr Cohen award, the Contact Communications award, the Outstanding Member award from the Public Relations Student Society of America, the Tom Fullmer award, the outstanding Broadcast Journalist award, The Northern Star award, the Kappa Tau Alpha Recognition award, the Deans’ award and the Outstanding Journalism Senior award.

Along with these awards, $8,000 in scholarships will be awarded.

Reservations should be made by April 9 at 753_1925. Tickets are $15 for non-students and $12 for students. The cash bar reception begins at 5:30 p.m.