Also selected to receive a 2018 Media Service Award from the SW District Athletic Board this year is WLWT-TV Sports Anchor Elise Jesse, of Cincinnati.
Linville and Jesse will be recognized as they receive their Media Awards on March 10 at the University of Dayton Arena during halftime of the Division I boys basketball game that tips off at 7 p.m.
In 1991, the OHSAA initiated a program entitled the Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity Program. One aspect of this program is to honor those special individuals who bring great recognition to the Southwest District’s high schools, coaches, and especially the student/athletes through media’s different forms. Each of Ohio’s six athletic districts was responsible for putting a process in place to gather nominations of individuals who fit this special category.
“I’m deeply honored to be selected as a recipient of this year’s Southwest District Athletic Board Media Award, but every successful, hard working sports journalist knows that we can’t do this job alone. It takes the assistance and support of the great coaches, athletic directors, and other school staff members we get the opportunity to work with,” said Linville. “Much thanks to those who have supported me over the years, and special thanks to my wife, Sharon, and our children, Christian and Kayla, for their support and understanding. For me, sports journalism is more than a job. It’s a way of life, and it’s a life I love.”
After working as a successful news and sports reporter in Brown County for nearly five years, Linville’s deep love for sports led him to take over as the sports editor of The News Democrat and The Ripley Bee newspapers in 2006.
Linville is a 1993 graduate of Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington High School and completed journalism and psychology courses while attending Shawnee State University from 1994-95. He later received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Phoenix while working full-time as sports editor of The Brown County Press.
Linville has won numerous Ohio Newspaper Association Weekly Newspaper Hooper awards for photography, sports coverage, and special sections during his time as a sports editor/reporter in Brown County and has also received several Brown Publishing Company Editorial Excellence awards for news, sports writing, and photography.
Linville recently received notice that he is also the winner of at least two awards for sports coverage and photography from the Ohio News Media Association (formerly Ohio Newspaper Association) to be awarded during the 2018 ONMA Convention to be held Feb. 7-8 in Columbus.
Linville currently resides in Ripley with his wife of 22 years, Sharon, who is an employee of the Ohio Veterans Home in Georgetown, and his son Christian, who is a freshman at Southern State Community College. Their 21-year-old daughter, Kayla Linville, is a senior at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth majoring in English and serving as president of her sorority.
