Two Roanoke media figures, one a retired television news executive, one a magazine editor, will be inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame next month.

"It's a totally unexpected honor and one which I find pretty humbling," said Bob Lee, retired president and general manager of WDBJ (Channel 7). "I'm in rarefied company."

Dan Smith, editor of Valley Business Front and former editor of Blue Ridge Business Journal, jokingly replied in an e-mail that the honor made him feel "like Ugly Betty at the Miss Universe Pageant."

The hall of fame was created by the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1986. The award recognizes a broad spectrum of achievement in print, broadcast and digital media, as well as public relations and advertising.

Past inductees with a connection to this region include bestselling author David Baldacci; WSLS radio announcer Herm Reavis; Roanoke Times editor Frosty Landon and political reporter Melville "Buster" Carico; John Harkrader, WDBJ's first president; and ABC White House correspondent and former WDBJ news anchorwoman Ann Compton.

WDBJ has had only four presidents and general managers in its existence, and Lee was the third, serving from 1989 to 2007. He oversaw the station's transition to its broadcast facility on Hershberger Road and the technological advances that came with it. His successor, Jeffrey Marks, called him a pioneer in the broadcast industry for his work in high-definition broadcasting.

During his career, Lee also served as president of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters, chairman of the CBS affiliate board and a board member of the National Association of Broadcasters. As the CBS affiliate chairman, he spoke before Congress about issues such as satellite retransmission.

He also forged a better relationship between the affiliate board and CBS Corp., said WDBJ program manager Mike Bell. "Bob was kind of the calm guy in between."

"It is gratifying to know my 40-plus years in the business made a difference," Lee said.

Smith's varied accomplishments include essays written for NPR and the founding of the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference in 2007.

Smith was editor of the Blue Ridge Business Journal from 1988 to 2008, and co-founded Valley Business Front soon after leaving. In 2005 he was named Virginia's journalist of the year by the Small Business Administration. He maintains a blog at fromtheeditr.blogspot.com.

"Mine has not been a conventional hall of fame story of success upon success," Smith wrote. "I've failed a lot more than I've succeeded, disappointed as often as I've pleased, committed crimes against journalism on a regular basis and had entirely too good a time at this to be placed in the company of people like the 117 others in the hall. I have enjoyed simply being a part of a profession I love and for me that's always been enough."