Two high-octane national awards recently found their way into Cincinnati newsrooms. They're from the Society of Professional Journalists and considered one of the Big Four (Peabodys, Duponts and Murrows are the other three) of the broadcast world.

• Channel 9 investigative reporter Laure Quinlivan won in the Public Service category for her piece on the Cincinnati Archdiocese's handling of the priest sex abuse scandal.

Channel 9 reporter Laure Quinlivan at won a SPJ award for her investigation on abuse by priests in the Cincinnati archdiocese. Enquirer file/GLENN HARTONG

The 20-minute report shot by Phil Drechsler ran last November in three segments, two about the priests and one an interview with Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk.

"I think the interview is what drove the story, even though he won't talk to us anymore," Quinlivan said.

Quinlivan also has two Peabody Awards.

• Channel 12 reporter Jeff Hirsh won in the Documentary category for last April's "Finding Family," a one-hour special where he and photographer Jeff Barnhill followed local Holocaust survivor Henry Blumenstein to Auschwitz where his mother was murdered and then to Holland for a reunion with descendants of the family that saved him.

"It was a privilege to tell this man's story," Hirsh said. "And he was very brave to let us follow him through this very emotional trip."

Hirsch also has 25 regional Emmys under his belt.

Auction update

So did anybody notice the big changes on Channel 48's Action Auction? For starters, tt was shaved from 10 to five days and stocked with way more upscale items than past years.

The "rest of the story," as Paul Harvey likes to say, is that it ends today, but not really. It will resume for a day come Saturday with a connoisseur's special that will sell off high end art, wine, travel and "unique experiences." Those would be things money can't buy. Like your family on the cover of All About Kids. Or a chance to propose to your honey on air, kicking lessons from former Bengal Doug Pelfrey, or a chance to feed the sharks at Newport Aquarium.

Channel 48 will kick it off with an "All Things Wild and Wonderful" party at 6:30 p.m. Friday where it will preview items. It's free, but you need to reserve a spot by calling 345-6525. Or watch it on Channel 48 when Channel 9 weekend anchor Tanya O'Rourke hosts a live half-hour at 8:30 p.m.

Burnt offerings

It wasn't pretty, but Reds manager Dave Miley recently made his singing debut with "Ring of Fire" on WGRR-FM (103.5). Not as bad as American Idol reject William Hung, but still not pretty.

Here's the deal: Back during spring training a bunch of Reds went to a karaoke bar and Miley got up to sing. Somebody bribed the host to make a tape. Word around the station is that Marty Brennaman did the dirty deed with $50, but no one will confirm it.

Some time later, an unnamed source in the Reds organization slipped it to afternoon jock Jim LaBarbara.

"The really sad thing is he was completely sober when he made it," says 'GRR program director Peter Z.

Dinosaur duty

And this from the Ice Age: Ken Tankersley, the Northern Kentucky anthropologist who's a consultant to national production houses shooting shows about the Ice Age, has another one coming up.

The two-hour Land of Lost Monsters takes a look at the late Ice Age when man was the hunter and the hunted - by 10-foot bears and eagles with 8-foot wingspans.

Tankersley was "scientific consultant" on the film, which means he had to make sure viewers see the era through native eyes. He worked the film from beginning to end - designed the clothing, supervised such activities as stone boiling, butchering and fire making, supplied the props and wrote the dialog in Lakota.

It airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday on the Animal Planet, repeating at 8 p.m. May 2.

Messy stew

You know what they say - too many cooks spoil the soup. Sometimes they spoil the newscast as well. That happened Monday on Channel 9's noon news when a woman showed up claiming to be one of the chefs cooking for an upcoming benefit. She wasn't.

"We got scammed, that's for sure," says Bill Fee, general manager. "We set it up with the Urban League to help promote their gala (last Friday), and I guess they got scammed, too."

The woman also claimed to be a sous chef at the Maisonette. "Never heard of her, never saw her before," says managing partner Nat Comisar.

"She lied to us," says Urban League spokeswoman Venyke Payton. "We found out right after the segment when the Maisonette called and said no one there ever heard of her."

"We know people are laughing at us and we feel silly," Fee said, "But the truth is these things can happen. I'm just glad it was a feature and not hard news."

Expensive news

Hard news - and expensive news - is what the station did Wednesday when it preempted 90-plus minutes of programming to carry the Matt Maupin prayer service live. Carol Williams and David Rose anchored the block which ran commercial-free, meaning it cost the station a ton in lost ad revenue.

The good news: By Thursday morning Fee already had 22 e-mails thanking him and only two complaining about the preemptions.

On stage

And finally, a reminder for the drama lovers among us: Channel 12 morning anchor Cammy Dierking shows up on stage next weekend as Martha Arable in the Children's Theatre production of Charlotte's Web. Last year she was Sally in Casey at the Bat.

The show plays Friday-next Sunday at the Taft Theatre.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com