Sarah Hutchins | Feb. 11, 2010
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| Courtesy photo |
| Alumna Elyse Hershenson received an Emmy July 25 for writing her three-part series, "Who Do I Grieve for Today?" Hers is only the second Emmy for WTWO-TV in Terre Haute. |
Hershenson, who goes by the name Elyse Evans on television, won for her writing on a three-part series, “Who Do I Grieve for Today?” She received the award July 25, 2009, at the 45th annual Emmy Awards for the Ohio Valley chapter, presented in Lexington, Ky. The chapter covers television professionals in 13 markets from four states.
During the awards ceremony, Hershenson said she had a good feeling about her chances.
“Winning was kind of a blur and then I had this beautiful golden statue,” said Hershenson, BAJ ‘05.
The statue represents hard work and professionalism. The series chronicled the 2005 murders of Trisha Zaikovsky and her two daughters, Brittany and Tori Williams. Hershenson, a reporter at the time, had been following the story along with the larger markets.
“I stayed on the story because the killer had not gone to trial,” Hershenson said. “One day the biological father e-mailed me frustrated about the situation. I interviewed the father and the grandparents and got to know them better and found out what it’s been like to wait this long. Nothing has been done, so I just listened to their frustration and concern and anger.”
The series aired in November 2008, the anniversary of the murders.
“It was a piece I felt passionate about,” Hershenson said. “But it was actually my photographer who planted the seed that I should enter it in the Emmys. I thought, these are solid pieces and if I was ever going to enter a piece, it would be this.”
Hershenson paid the entry fee herself (the station told her she had to be nominated or win for it to reimburse her) and waited for the July 1 nominations.
“On the day of the nominations, I was trying to watch online, but the connection was bad,” she said. “I thought I heard my name but I couldn’t be sure so I went into work and checked. That’s when I found out I was a nominee.”
WTWO-TV producer and 2007 IU journalism alumna Kristin Cutler, BAJ ’07, said Hershenson’s nomination was an exciting moment for the station.
“I was super excited,” Cutler said. “It’s something that just doesn’t happen in the Terre Haute market. We’re kind of small compared to the others in the region.”
Hershenson’s Emmy win is only the second for the station in 44 years. The other winner, Mitch Blacher, BAJ ’04, also is an IU graduate who won in 2006 for a piece on a Holocaust survivor.
The month and a half between nominations and awards was exciting, Hershenson said.
“I went into it very positive,” she said. “I could just visualize myself with the Emmy and I had a good feeling.”
Looking back on Hershenson’s Emmy-award winning piece, Cutler said the human element behind the work made it stand out among the other reports on the murder.
“She took a pretty high profile murder case from our area and made it more human,” Cutler said. “It wasn’t just about the killer. She told the whole story from the family’s perspective and what they’ve been through losing their kids and grandkids.”
Hershenson’s Emmy is only one of her many successes at WTWO. She moved from reporter to anchor in her first three months on the job and has been slowly climbing her way to the top.
“She’s a really hard worker,” Cutler said. “She’s persistent and I think she’s really going to go far in this industry.”
—-By Sarah Hutchins
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