Local News 8 earns top honors at Idaho Press Club’s annual banquet

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — It is one of Idaho's biggest nights in journalism, where top journalists from across the Gem State gathered to learn who took top honors at the Idaho Press Club Awards.

Local News 8 received 17 awards across multiple categories including General Excellence in television which includes overall excellence in news coverage, storytelling, and production.

Local News 8 earned the top spot for Best Morning News program in its division, and multiple individual journalists from the Local News 8 team were recognized for their reporting.

Ariel Jensen received the top spot in Best Live Shot for division, while Seth Ratliff took home the top spot in Serious Feature Report in Division B for his coverage on Jensen's Grove late last year. Hadley Bodell gave Local News 8 name recognition in the Student category as well as the TV category.

Local News 8's full list of all seventeen awards included:

• Television
  • General Excellence - Division B
    • 1. Seth Randal, Kalvin Pike & Staff – KIFI, Local News 8
  • Best Morning News Program - Division B
    • 1. Jeff Roper, Kailey Galaviz, Maggie Moore – KIFI – Local News 8 at Noon
  • Spot News Report - Division B
    • 3. Ariel Jensen – KIFI Local News 8 – Rigby Plane Crash
  • Best Live Shot - Division B
    • 1. Ariel Jensen – KIFI Local News 8 – “You can’t park here!”
  • Watchdog
    • 3. Seth Ratliff, Chris Nestman – KIFI, Local News 8 – Local News 8 Investigation: Pocatello Police had previous interactions with Victor Perez before fatal shooting
  • Serious Feature Report - Division B
    • 1. Seth Ratliff – KIFI, Local News 8 – Blackfoot City Council to address new agreement to fill Jensen Grove
    • 2. Max Gershon – KIFI, Local News 8 – Hanukkah in Idaho
    • 3. Doug Long – KIFI, Local News 8 – Ligertown 30 Years Later
  • Light Feature Report - Division B
    • 2. Stephanie Lucus, Kabrun Sharp – KIFI, Local News 8 – History of Spooky Basements
    • 3. Ariel Jensen – KIFI, Local News 8 – Stronger Than Steel
  • Sports News Story - Division B
    • 3. Will Syslo – KIFI, Local News 8 – High School Football Preview Series: Skyline High School
  • Weathercast - Division B
    • 2. Michael Coats – KIFI, Local News 8
    • 3. Jeff Roper – KIFI, Local News 8
  • Crime Report - Division B
    • 2. Jeff Roper – KIFI, Local News 8 – Facebook Scam Steals Thousands from Rancher’s Customers
  • Government / Political - Division B
    • 2. Stephanie Lucus, Seth Ratliff – KIFI, Local News 8 – Seven Arrested for Voter Fraud
  • Rookie Of The Year -
    • 2. Hadley Bodell – KIFI Local News 8
• Student
  • General News Report
    • 2. Hadley Bodell – KIFI Local News 8 – Hour of AI in Eastern Idaho Classrooms
      

You can find the full list of winners at https://idahopressclub.org/awards/best-of-2025-award-winners/.