Ben Eason, founder of the Weekly Planet, was named Community Communicator of the Year by the Tampa Educational Cable Consortium (TECC). The award was presented at a May 7 luncheon at the University of Tampa.
Eason was cited for the numerous community projects he has started or aided, including Hillsborough Tomorrow, Speak Up Tampa Bay and the Good Community Alliance. Speak Up now operates Hillsborough's public access cable channels.
Last year, Weekly Planet Inc. acquired the Atlanta-based Creative Loafing group of alternative newspapers. The new company, with Eason as president, operates newspapers in Tampa, Sarasota, Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., and Greenville, S.C.
TECC broadcasts education and cultural programming on The Education Channel.
Other award winners were:
... Jack Davis, assistant superintendent of Hillsborough schools, Outstanding Com-munity Advocate
... The Saunders Foundation, Outstand- ing Institutional TECC Supporter
... Salvatore Territo, Outstanding In- dividual TECC Supporter
... Barbara Rooks, Hillsborough County Schools' supervisor of library media services, Producing Partner of the Year
... Timothy Kennedy, associate professor, University of Tampa, Outstanding Media/ Technology Teacher (Post-Secondary)
... Weslie Lauren Alford, student, Armwood High School, Outstanding Media/Technology Student
... Tom Crowe, teacher, Armwood High School, Outstanding Media/Technology Teacher (Secondary)
