For immediate release
Chicago, IL - September 4, 2026
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chicago/Midwest Chapter announced today that WTTW has been nominated for 21 regional 2025-2026 Emmy Awards in the following categories:
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR DOCUMENTARY – HISTORICAL
Chicago Stories: Legendary Blizzards
Eddie Griffin, Producer; Lauren R. Drell, Associate Producer; Anna Chadwick Gardner, Shelley Spencer, Executive Producers
Chicago Stories: Inside the Tylenol Murders
Peter Marks, Producer; Ian Bertorelli, Associate Producer; Anna Chadwick Gardner, Shelley Spencer, Executive Producers
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR DOCUMENTARY – TOPICAL
Chicago Stories: Rod Blagojevich
Tania Lindsay, Producer; Alicia Soller, Associate Producer; Anna Chadwick Gardner, Shelley Spencer, Executive Producers
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR INFORMATIONAL/INSTRUCTIONAL
Chicago Works with Geoffrey Baer
Tim Ferrin, Producer; Matthew Shimmel, Associate Producer; Geoffrey Baer, Host
WTTW News Explains
Jay T. Smith, Executive Producer; Eunice Alpasan, Abena Bediako, Alex Blanchette, Nick Blumberg, Greg Bodfish, Heather Cherone, Patty Wetli, Justin Younger, Natalie Younger, Producers
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAM - SERIES
Firsthand: Democracy
Dan Protess, Executive Producer; Anne Gleason, Executive Producer; Teresa Crawford, Latesha Dickerson, Pat Odom, Edgar Vargas, Teresa White, Producers
Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review
Nicholas Blumberg, Host; Crystin Immel, Producer; Jay T. Smith, Executive Producer
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR NOSTALGIA/HISTORICAL/CULTURAL CONTENT
Chicago Stories: Marshall Field’s
Heidi Zersen, Producer; Marcy Marzuki, Associate Producer; Anna Chadwick Gardner, Shelley Spencer, Executive Producers
Riding the Rails with Geoffrey Baer
Daniel Andries, Producer; Tim Ferrin, Producer; Geoffrey Baer, Host
Architecture Gems: The Marshall Field and Company Building Digital Short
Meredith Francis, Producer; Anne Gleason, Executive Producer; Sean Keenehan, Producer
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR CONTENT SHORTS
How the Railroads Standardized Time Digital Short
Meredith Francis, Producer; Geoffrey Baer, Talent; Anne Gleason, Executive Producer
OUTSTANDING CRAFTS ACHIEVEMENT FOR GRAPHIC ARTS/MOTION GRAPHICS/VISUAL
How the Railroads Standardized Time Digital Short
Ryan Owen
OUTSTANDING CRAFTS ACHIEVEMENT FOR AUDIO
Chicago Stories: Legendary Blizzards
Sam Fishkin, Andrew Twiss, Sophia Fishkin
Riding the Rails with Geoffrey Baer
Sam Fishkin, Andrew Twiss, Sophia Fishkin
OUTSTANDING CRAFTS ACHIEVEMENT FOR EDITING – LONG FORM CONTENT
Chicago Stories: Inside the Tylenol Murders
Bill Ward
Chicago Stories: Iconic Foods
Brian Clark
Riding the Rails with Geoffrey Baer
Joe Winston
OUTSTANDING CRAFTS ACHIEVEMENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY – SHORT AND Long Form Content
Riding the Rails with Geoffrey Baer
Tim Boyd
OUTSTANDING CRAFTS ACHIEVEMENT FOR WRITING
Chicago Stories: Iconic Foods
Daniel Andries, Monica Eng
Chicago Stories: Marshall Field’s
Heidi Zersen
WTTW News Explains
Jay T. Smith, Patty Wetli, Natalie Younger
The 68th Annual Midwest Emmy Awards Ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
WTTW is the PBS member station in Chicago, committed to creating and presenting unique media content across distinct television and digital channels – WTTW, WTTW Prime, WTTW Create, WTTW World, WTTW PBS Kids 24/7, wttw.com, and the PBS/WTTW video app. Recognized for award-winning journalism and local productions – such as Chicago Stories, Chicago Tonight, Firsthand, The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago, and Chicago By ‘L’ – WTTW presents the very best in public affairs, arts and culture, nature and science, history and documentary, and children’s public media content. Connect with WTTW on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
