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Committees

The work of SPJ is largely done at the national committee level. No matter what your passion — freedom of information, legal defense, diversity, ethics, freelance, international journalism, First Amendment rights, journalism education — SPJ has an outlet for your talents, passion and energy. Click on the committee name to learn more about its work or to contact the chair to find out how you get can get involved.

Awards & Honors

This committee oversees most of the Society's awards, which are dedicated to recognizing outstanding achievement in journalism. Any changes in guidelines, judging criteria, categories or eligibility are reviewed by this committee.

Related content | Awards Committee Roster

Awards & Honors Committee Chair

Ginny Frizzi
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Ginny Frizzi has been a member of SPJ since she was an undergraduate at Point Park College (now University) in Pittsburgh. She was a charter member of the Point Park chapter.

Frizzi holds a B.A. and M.A. in journalism from Point Park. She also did graduate work in non-fiction writing and public and international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

She is treasurer of the Pittsburgh Professional Chapter of SPJ and served as finance chair for the 2008 Region 4 conference hosted by the chapter in March. She was SPJ’s Region 4 Director from 1994-2000 and twice received the Regional Director of the Year Award.

Frizzi was a founder of the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania and currently serves as a board member. She is a member of the Club’s journalism scholarship committee and has chaired the club’s annual Golden Quill Awards competition for more years than she can remember.

She is a board member of the Women’s Press Club of Pittsburgh and a former president of the club and the Pittsburgh chapter of Women In Communications, Inc., (WICI), now American Women in Communications.

Frizzi is also a freelance writer.

Sue Kopen Katcef, vice chair
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
University of Maryland
301-405-7526
E-mail


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Blue Sky

Imagine you have $10,000. How would you spend that to improve programming and membership? Now imagine you have $50,000. Now imagine $100,000. But remember: You don't have any of that money. It's all in your imagination.

The Blue Sky Blog

Blue Sky Committee Chair

Michael Koretzky
954-292-7515
E-mail

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Bylaws

This committee strives to ensure the Society conducts its business and operations according to the Society's bylaws. SPJ's bylaws aim to unite members and promote good fellowship among them.

SPJ Bylaws | Bylaws Committee Roster

Bylaws Committee Chair

Robert Becker
3315 Morrison St., NW
Washington, D.C. 20015
(202) 364-8013
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Robert Becker has served on the Bylaws Committee since 2001 and has been the D.C.Pro Chapter's FOI chair since about 1992. Additionally, Becker serves as the D.C. Sunshine Chair, and the Mid-Atlantic Region member of the National FOI Committee. In this position, he provides advice and information on access to journalists and others in the D.C. metropolitan area. Most recently, Becker has been working with the Maryland, Delaware and D.C. Press Association to draft a new open meetings law for D.C. He’s worked with National (SPJ) to oppose a bill that would have exempted Virginia legislative committees from the state open meetings law, and he worked with the D.C. City Council Judiciary Committee on amendments to the D.C. open records law and the D.C. open meetings law. Becker has assisted students at a Montgomery County high school who, as part of their course work, aired controversial programs on the school board's cable channel. Recently, he actively opposed proposed restrictions on public access to federal court case files over the Internet. Working with the National FOI Chairman, Becker developed a program to train journalists, news managers and media outlet owners on the importance of defending public access to government information. He regularly addresses groups of foreign journalists and government officials visiting the United States on access to government information and has done training projects in Ethiopia, Morrocco, Argentina and Urugua on issues related to press freedom.

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Communications

SPJ’s Comunications Committee specializes in the marketing and promotion of the Society's work and the vital role of preserving a free, responsible press in the United States. This committee works largely in an advisory role and is tasked with aiding the development of communications for some of the Society's most significant projects.

Communications Committee Roster

Communications Committee chair

Lauren Bartlett
Sr Project Manager Media Relations
Southern California Edison
2244 Walnut Grove Ave
Rosemead CA 91770
(626) 302-7907
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Lauren Bartlett is currently a Director at Large for the Society of Professional Journalists, chairs the national Communications Committee and is a member of the Ethics Committee and the Finance Committee.
Lauren was a three-time president of SPJ’s Greater Los Angeles chapter. Lauren works in media relations at Southern California Edison and previously worked in media relations at UCLA, her alma mater.

Before joining UCLA in 2000, Lauren was a reporter in Los Angeles for 12 years, the last 10 of which were at the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the country’s largest daily legal affairs newspaper.

Lauren’s professional career began when she was a junior in high school and wrote a weekly column for the Contra Costa Sun. In her senior year of high school she reported for the Contra Costa Times. While attending UCLA she interned at the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and Copley News Service.

Upon graduation Lauren worked at the Los Angeles bureau of The Associated Press and City News Service, a regional wire service, before joining the Daily Journal.

Lauren was honored in 2011 with a President’s Award for distinguished service to the Society. In 2001, she was honored with the Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Award for her contributions to the SPJ Greater Los Angeles chapter and Region 11. She has been a member of the SPJ/LA Board of Directors since 1996.

Mark Scarp, vice chair
Adjunct professor, Arizona State University
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Mark Scarp has been a journalist for nearly 25 years, writing and editing for several newspapers in the Phoenix area before starting work at what became the East Valley Tribune, based in Mesa, a city of 450,000 just southeast of Phoenix. For 9 1/2 years he was a member of the newspaper's editorial board, writing many of the newspaper's editorials as well as his own column before being laid off in January along with half the Tribune's newsroom. Since January 2008 has been adjunct professor of journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication, teaching mass communications law, journalism ethics and diversity, and news writing and reporting. In October 2009 Mark was hired as membership coordinator for the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, which that summer had moved its national headquarters to Arizona State University's journalism school. He works to build membership, raise funds and organize workshops and conferences.

Mark served six years on SPJ's national board of directors, two years on its Executive Committee and one year on its Finance Committee. After his board service, he served three years as chair of the national Membership Committee. He is also active in SPJ's Phoenix chapter, having served six terms as chapter president. He is currently programs chair. As the chapter is a member of the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona, Mark was the coalition's president from 2001-2005 and currently serves as its treasurer.

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Digital Media

SPJ's Digital Media Committee aims to help news professionals wanting to learn more — in a hurry — about technology. The committee monitors the continued electronic evolution of the journalism industry and advises the organization on the latest trends so it can prepare journalists for the latest changes.

Net Worked Blog | Digital Media Committee Roster

Digital Media Committee Chair

Jennifer Peebles
Deputy editor Texas Watchdog in Houston; former president of the Middle Tennessee Pro chapter in Nashville
E-mail

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Diversity

On both chapter and national levels, SPJ provides an open forum for the discussion of diversity issues in journalism. This committee's purpose is to promote a broader voice in newsrooms across the country and expand the depth and quality of news reports through better sourcing. Its ongoing project is the compilation of experts — primarily women, gays and lesbians, people of color and people with disabilities — through the Society's Diversity Source Book. The Society's relevance to its member is based on inclusiveness.

Diversity Home Page | Diversity Committee Roster

Diversity Committee Chair

Bonnie Davis
Associate Professor Journalism
Virginia Commonwealth University
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Bonnie Newman Davis is the Greensboro News & Record - Janice Bryant Howroyd Endowed Professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at North Carolina A&T State University where she teaches, conducts research and performs multiple learning and service activities. A graduate of North Carolina A&T and the University of Michigan, Davis has nearly 30 years experience in print and online journalism as a reporter, copy editor and editor.

Before joining N.C. A&T, Davis was an associate professor in the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University and served as academic director for VCU’s Urban Journalism Workshop for high school students.

In addition to her professional journalism background, Davis served as director of university communications at Virginia Union University. At VUU, she was chief spokesperson for the university, directed all media relations, and produced and coordinated the university’s major publications and marketing materials. Other higher education experiences include serving for several years as an adjunct professor in VCU’s School of Mass Communications, and being named the 2003 Visiting Professional in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Hampton University.

Prior to academia, Davis spent nearly 20 years career with The Richmond-Times Dispatch (Va.) and Richmond News Leader (Va.). She also worked for newspapers in Kentucky, North Carolina and Michigan, and for online news media based in New York and Dallas.

Davis has coordinated, presented and participated in numerous news media panels and conferences in various parts of the United States. She also serves as a media consultant for various educational institutions and nonprofit organizations. In addition, she is the biographer for Dominion’s “Strong Men, Strong Women,” Excellence in Leadership educational series. (Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy)

In 1995, Davis co-founded the Richmond Association of Black Journalists, an affiliate chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. She served on NABJ’s national board from 1999-2003, and also on the board of the Virginia Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Other memberships include Leadership Metro Richmond and the Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

In 2007, Davis received NABJ’s Ethel Payne Fellowship to travel to Accra, Ghana in West Africa to report on various topics. Other education and training experiences include the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Multicultural Management Program at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, and the 2002 Minority Writers Seminar at Vanderbilt University.

In April 2011, Davis was named NABJ’s Journalism Educator of the Year. Her work also has been recognized by the Virginia Press Association, Richmond Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Black Journalists and Commonwealth Council of Girl Scouts.

Davis, who continues to write articles for various news and industry publications, enjoys reading, traveling, walking and spending time with family and friends. She has a daughter, Erin Danielle Stanley, a 2010 graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta. Erin, a Teach for America corps member, teaches fifth-grade students in Atlanta.

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Ethics

This committee's purpose is to encourage the use of the Society's Code of Ethics, which promotes the highest professional standards for journalists of all disciplines. Public concerns are often answered by this committee. It also acts as a spotter for reporting trends in the nation, accumulating case studies of jobs well done under trying circumstances.

Ethics Home Page | Ethics Committee Roster

Ethics Committee chair

Kevin Z. Smith
Instructor
School of Media Arts and Design,
James Madison University
262 Harrison Hall
54 Bluestone Drive
Harrisonburg, Va, 22807
304-365-4864
E-mail

Fred Brown, vice chair
2862 S. Oakland Ct.
Aurora, Colo., 80014
303/829-4647
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Fred Brown is a former national president of SPJ (1997-98) and is very active on its ethics committee. He writes a column on ethics for Quill magazine and served on the committee that wrote the Society’s 1996 code of ethics.

Brown officially retired from The Denver Post in early 2002, but continues to write a Sunday editorial page column for the newspaper. He also does analysis for Denver’s NBC television station, teaches communication ethics at the University of Denver, and is a principal in Hartman & Brown, LLP, a media training and consulting firm. He has won several awards for writing and community service, including a Sigma Delta Chi Award for editorial writing in 1988. He is an Honor Alumnus of Colorado State University, a member of the Denver Press Club Hall of Fame, and serves on the boards of directors of Colorado Public Radio, the Colorado Freedom of Information Council and the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.

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Finance, Tax and Budget

The finance committee is chaired by the Society's secretary-treasurer. By authority of that position, the committee reviews the annual budget and sets financial goals. Its recommendations on the budget are forwarded to the SPJ board at its spring meeting.

Finance, Tax and Budget Committee Roster

Finance, Tax and Budget Committee Chair

John Ensslin
Reporter
303-726-9213
E-mail

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Freedom of Information Committee

This committee is the watchdog of press freedoms across the nation. It relies upon a network of volunteers in each state organized under Project Sunshine. These SPJ members are on the front lines for assaults to the First Amendment and when lawmakers attempt to restrict the public's access to documents and the government's business. The committee often is called upon to intervene in instances where the media is restricted.

FOI Home Page | FOI Committee Roster

Freedom of Information Committee Chair

Linda Petersen
Managing Editor
The Valley Journals
801-254-5974 X 17
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Linda Petersen is the managing editor of The Valley Journals, a group of 15 free, total market coverage, monthly community papers in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah.

She is president of the Utah Foundation for Open Government, a citizen coalition that works to educate and advocate for open government.

A past president of the Utah Headliners pro chapter, she is currently the chapter’s FOI officer and treasurer.

For her open government advocacy, she has received the Utah Press Association John E. Jones Award, the Utah Headliners Clifford P. Cheney Service to Journalism Award and the Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Chapter Member Award.

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Freelance

The Freelance Committee's purpose is to promote, assist, and build a communication network for freelance reporters, writers, editors, copy editors, photographers, designers and all additional contract journalists. This committee's goal is to bring heightened awareness to freelance journalism. It acts a bridge to connect freelance journalists with editors. This committee is an advocate for freelance journalism. It also provides a professional and social outlet for freelance journalists. This committee encourages reasonable work-pay ratios, respect, and education for the growing number of freelance journalists.

Freelance Home Page | Freelance Committee Roster

Freelance Committee Chair

Dana Neuts
Freelance Journalist
P.O. Box 6231
Kent, WA 98064
E-mail
Twitter
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) After a career in financial services, Dana (Blozis) Neuts began freelancing in 2003. Based in Kent, Washington, Dana is a freelance writer and editor as well as the owner and publisher of iLoveKent.net and iLoveCovington.com, hyperlocal blogs. Her work has appeared in many Seattle-area publications as well as national publications including GSN: Government Security News, HS Today and American Profile. She is past-president of the award-winning Western Washington Pro Chapter of SPJ, serves as the Region 10 Director of SPJ, is a member of the membership committee, and chairman of the freelance committee. She previously served on the SDX foundation board and has been a facilitator for Scripps. For more information, please visit VirtuallyYourz.com. Specialties: Business Writing and Editing, Features, Humor, Small Business, Nonprofits, Finance, Insurance, Travel, and Marketing Consulting and Implementation including Social Media.

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Generation J

Generation J focuses on helping early-stage pros sharpen their skills and bone up on the importance of journalism advocacy.

Generation J Committee Roster

Generation J Committee chair

Lynn Walsh
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Lynn Walsh is an Investigative Producer for WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida. Previously she worked as an Investigative Journalist for Texas Watchdog, a non-profit online journalism organization in Houston, Texas. She is a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Lynn began her career as a reporter for The Government Channel in Athens, Ohio were she covered city and county issues for the citizens and students living in Athens County. Lynn also served www.thepalestra.net as a general assignment reporter focusing on anything from sporting events to the 2008 general election.

Lynn has appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends,” and has had her work published in a variety of print publications. Ms. Walsh has also put time in at several other media organizations including WSYX/WTTE in Columbus, OH, WRGT/WKEF in Dayton, Ohio, WMAR in Baltimore, and “The Today Show” in New York City.

Lynn has been recognized for her work as a journalist by receiving many awards including the Richard O. Linke Award and the Ohio Broadcasters Foundation Award and being selected as a Knight Digital Media Center Fellow. Lynn is very active in the Ohio University community, working closely with the Ohio University Alumni Association. Lynn also is a member of Radio Television Digital News Association, SPJ and IRE. She is obsessed with news, social media and pop culture and loves spending time with family and friends.

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Government Relations

SPJ's Government Relations Committee will assist the organization with tracking and supporting legislation that will broaden First Amendment and open government efforts that benefit journalists and the public.

Government Relations Committee Roster

Government Relations Committee chair

Al Cross
Director Institute for
Rural Journalism & Community Issues
School of Journalism & Telecommunications
122 Grehan Bldg.
University of Kentucky
Lexington KY 40506
Work: (859) 257-3744
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Al Cross is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky, and an assistant professor in UK’s School of Journalism and Telecommunications. He reported for The Courier-Journal for 26 years, the last 15 percent as chief political writer, and continues to write a twice-monthly political column for the Louisville newspaper. He was national president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2001-02, and is chairman of SPJ’s Government Relations Committee, a member of the Ethics Committee and a director of SPJ’s Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. His awards include a share of the Pulitzer Prize won by The C-J’s staff for general news reporting in 1989, for coverage of the nation’s deadliest bus and drunk-driving crash. He is a longtime panelist on Kentucky Educational Television's “Comment on Kentucky” and has been a contributor to several books on Kentucky and politics. He grew up in Albany, Ky., is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, and worked at newspapers in Monticello, Leitchfield and Russellville before establishing The Courier-Journal news bureau at Somerset, which later moved to Bardstown. He and his wife Patti have lived in Frankfort since 1987.

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International Journalism

The International Journalism Committee works to improve and protect international journalism and encourage the free practice of journalism in all countries.

International Journalism Home Page | IJC Roster

International Journalism Committee Chair

Ricardo Sandoval
Assistant City Editor
Sacramento Bee
Bio (click to expand) Ricardo Sandoval is Assistant City Editor at the Sacramento Bee newspaper. He supervises the paper’s environment, science and regional development teams of reporters. Before joining The Bee, Sandoval was a foreign correspondent, based in Mexico City, for the Dallas Morning News and Knight Ridder Newspapers. Sandoval was born in Mexico and raised in San Diego, California. He graduated with a journalism degree from Humboldt State University in Northern California. His career has spanned three decades and has included award-winning coverage of California agriculture, immigration, the savings and loan scandal and the deregulation of public utility companies. His list of awards includes the Overseas Press Club, the InterAmerican Press Club, the Gerald Loeb prize for business journalism and two honors from the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Sandoval co-authored — with his wife, journalist Susan Ferriss — the biography “The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement” published in 1997 by Harcourt.

Ronnie Lovler, vice chair
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Ronnie Lovler is associate director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University. She is also senior writer for the nonprofit Newsdesk.org, and its public-interest news service, “News You Might Have Missed”. In addition to serving as international committee chair, Ronnie is a member of the executive board of the northern California chapter of SPJ. Ronnie taught journalism at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida before moving to San Francisco.

Ronnie’s journalism career spans several decades. She served as bureau chief and correspondent for CNN in Latin America for almost 10 years. During her time at CNN, she reported from every country in Latin America. She also worked for CBS News, The Weather Channel and The Associated Press, as well as The San Juan Star in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was part of a team of observers headed by President Jimmy Carter monitoring electoral processes in Nicaragua (2001) and Venezuela (2004). During the 2005 U.S. hurricane season, Ms. Lovler worked with the American Red Cross as a volunteer crisis communicator and public information officer. She received her undergraduate degree from Ohio State University and her graduate degree in communications at the University of Florida.



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Journalism Education

This committee's purpose is to promote excellence in education programs and practical research. It acts as a clearinghouse for the Society's academic members and students. It also works with annual convention planners on mentor programs both at the college and high school level.

Tools for Students | Tools for Educators | J-Ed Committee Roster

Journalism Education Committee Chair

Becky Tallent
Assistant Professor
School of Journalism and Mass Media
University of Idaho
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Rebecca J. “Becky” Tallent is an award-winning journalist and public relations specialist with more than 12 years experience as an energy/environmental and financial journalist plus an additional 16 years experience as a public relations specialist and five years as an educator. She is currently an assistant professor of journalism and mass media at the University of Idaho.

Becky’s experience as a reporter and editor inside Oklahoma was with the Daily Oklahoman, the Tulsa World, Oklahoma Business News Co. (where she was reporter and editor of the Oklahoma Energy/Environment Report) and as editor of the Oklahoma Banker. She has also covered energy and environmental issues for McGraw-Hills News, Inc. of New York (Platt’s Oilgram News, Engineering Week and Green Markets); Reuter’s U.S. Financial, Inc. based in New York; and the Washington, D.C.-based Oil Daily.

As a public relations specialist, Becky has represented the University Hospitals, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board and Epworth Villa (a not-for profit retirement community). From 2002-2006, she was a public relations specialist with Evergreen Productions, Inc. of Oklahoma City where she represented the City of Lawton (OK), Tidal School Vineyards and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Her expertise in public relations is writing/publications, working with the news media and crisis communications.

Before Idaho, Becky taught journalism at Bishop McGuinness High School, Southwestern College, the University of Phoenix, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Some of Becky’s most recent awards include: 2003 Faculty Member of the Year, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; first place, 2001, American Marketer’s Association, Oklahoma City Chapter, Marketing Campaign for Epworth Villa; second place, 2001, Society of Professional Journalists, Oklahoma Chapter, not-for-profit publications (Epworth Villa); first place, 2000, Society of Professional Journalists, not-for-profit publications (The Oklahoma Banker); and the 1999 Award of Merit from the Oklahoma Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators for the Oklahoma Banker.

Becky has been a member of SPJ since 1972 when she joined the University of Central Oklahoma student chapter. She joined the Oklahoma Professional Chapter in 1977 and became a member of the Snake River Chapter in 2006. She has served on numerous local and national committees for SPJ. Becky’s dedication to the Society lies in her belief that service in SPJ is a way to contribute something back to the profession.

Becky earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (1975) and her Master of Education in Journalism (1977) from the University of Central Oklahoma. She earned her Doctorate of Education in Classroom Teaching/Mass Communications from Oklahoma State University in 1995.

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Legal Defense Fund

This committee oversees the Society's Legal Defense Fund, a unique account that can be tapped for providing journalists with legal or direct financial assistance. Application to the fund is approved by either a small committee or the national board, depending on the level of assistance sought. The committee works throughout the year raising funds for LDF.

LDF Home Page | LDF Committee Roster

Legal Defense Fund Committee Chair

Hagit Limor
Investigative Reporter
WCPO-TV
1720 Gilbert Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513/852-4012
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Hagit Limor’s other experience with SPJ includes stints as National President; National President-Elect; National Secretary-Treasurer; National Membership Committee; National Finance Committee Chair; current National Nominations Committee chair; National Chair of Executive Director Search Committee; Board Member of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation; and Greater Cincinnati Pro Chapter President, membership chairman and current board chair.

Outside of SPJ, she serves as WCPO-TV's Emmy and national award-winning investigative reporter. At WCPO, Hagit is regarded as a "do-it-all" journalist. She's served as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and now helms the award-winning I-Team. Her abilities as a writer and reporter have garnered Hagit more than 100 national, state and local awards, including ten Emmy awards, a National Headliner Award, three national Sigma Delta Chi Awards and as a national finalist with the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association.

Hagit received bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.

At home, she shares life with her husband Jeff, her son Jake, a dog and two cats.

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Membership

This committee follows membership trends in the Society and recommends membership recruitment drives to the national board and executive director. It is called upon to review chapter requirements, dues, organizational structure and other quality-of-life issues affecting the membership.

Why Join? | Member Resources

Membership Committee Chair

Holly Edgell
Regional Editor, Patch.com
E-mail
Twitter
Bio (click to expand) Holly Edgell is a Regional Editor for Patch in St. Louis.

She comes to the roster of SPJ Committee leaders with experience in journalism and academia. She worked as a newscast producer in Youngstown, Ohio, at WFMJ-TV and in Pittsburgh at WTAE-TV. Edgell's career later took her to Cleveland, where she worked as medical news producer at duopoly WOIO-TV and WUAB-TV, and to Detroit's WDIV-TV, where she worked as consumer news producer. Edgell spent more than four years as an assistant professor in Florida A&M University's journalism school.

Before joining Patch in 2010, Edgell was an assistant professor at the Missouri School of Journalism and the Emmy-award winning executive producer at KOMU-TV (NBC) in Columbia, MO. She also served as the adviser for the Missouri School of Journalism student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

At age 21, Edgell was the first news director for Great Belize Television in Belize, where she was born. She helped launch “News 5,” the first independent (non-government) television news program to air in that country. Edgell earned a master's degree in journalism with a concentration in media management at Kent State University in Ohio. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Michigan State University. In addition to memberships in SPJ and NABJ, Edgell is a member of the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA). She has traveled extensively in Africa, Asia, North America and Europe and speaks Spanish.

In her spare time, Edgell coordinates training for journalists and aspiring journalists in Belize, in conjunction with the University of the West Indies, Open Campus.

She also writes fiction and had her short story, “The Means and the End,” published in Picayune Lit Review. Her story, “Heaven and the Deep Blue Sea” appears in two journals: Pisgah Lit Review and Dialogo.

College Membership Subcommittee Chair

Tara Puckey
PO Box 7144
Fishers, IN 46038
765-730-4283
E-mail
Twitter
Bio (click to expand) Tara Puckey owns tara puckey freelance, (tarapuckeyfreelance.com), a media company focused on military media, marketing and social media consulting. She is a graduate of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and served two years on the SPJ national board as a student representative. Puckey is also involved in the Woman's Press Club of Indiana and is a recipient of the Kate Milner Rabb Award and the Julie Galvan Outstanding Graduate in Journalism Award. She lives with her husband, Bryan, and two daughters, Alexa and Brooklyn, in Pendleton, Ind.

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Nominations

The nominations committee has a single goal: to recruit the best and brightest of SPJ members to run for national offices. The immediate past president of the Society automatically serves in this role.

Nominations Committee Chair

Hagit Limor
Investigative Reporter
WCPO-TV
1720 Gilbert Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513/852-4012
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Hagit Limor’s other experience with SPJ includes stints as National President; National President-Elect; National Secretary-Treasurer; National Membership Committee; National Finance Committee Chair; current National Nominations Committee chair; National Chair of Executive Director Search Committee; Board Member of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation; and Greater Cincinnati Pro Chapter President, membership chairman and current board chair.

Outside of SPJ, she serves as WCPO-TV's Emmy and national award-winning investigative reporter. At WCPO, Hagit is regarded as a "do-it-all" journalist. She's served as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and now helms the award-winning I-Team. Her abilities as a writer and reporter have garnered Hagit more than 100 national, state and local awards, including ten Emmy awards, a National Headliner Award, three national Sigma Delta Chi Awards and as a national finalist with the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association.

Hagit received bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.

At home, she shares life with her husband Jeff, her son Jake, a dog and two cats.

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Professional Development

The Professional Development Committee ensures a broad range of professional development programs offered by the Society.
Training Home Page | Committee Roster

Professional Development Committee Chair

Deb Halpern Wenger
Associate Professor
VCU School of Mass Communications
Bio (click to expand) Deb Halpern Wenger, a 17-year broadcast news veteran, is assistant professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi. Prior to her academic appointments, Deb was assistant news director at WFLA-TV in Tampa, Fla. Wenger conducts multimedia training in newsrooms around the country and is coauthor of the broadcast, online and multimedia journalism curricula for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Newsroom Training Program. She is also chair of SPJ’s Professional Development Committee and has been a visiting faculty member for The Poynter Institute and has been part of the Committee of Concerned Journalists Traveling Curriculum through the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Wenger is co-author of a journalism textbook, “Advancing the Story: Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia World” and produces a multimedia blog: advancingthestory.wordpress.com.

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Programming

Committee Roster

Programming Committee Chair

Jeremy Steele
Director of Media Relations
The John Truscott Group
124 W. Allegan St., Ste. 802
Lansing, MI 48933
517-485-8404
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Jeremy Steele is director of media relations at The John Truscott Group, a public relations, public affairs, government affairs and business development firm with offices in Lansing and Grand Rapids, Mich. He’s also an adjunct faculty member at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.

Previously, Steele was a reporter at the Lansing State Journal, where he covered the economy, development and technology in Michigan’s capital city. Steele also has worked for the Michigan Business Review, Port Huron Times Herald, Flint Journal, Jackson Citizen Patriot and Cincinnati Enquirer. His work has been honored by the Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association, Michigan Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press.

Steele has a bachelor's in journalism from Michigan State University, where he was editor of The State News, one of the largest student-run daily newspapers in the country. He serves as president of the State News Alumni Association.

He is a board member of SPJ's Mid-Michigan Pro Chapter and a 2006 graduate of the Ted Scripps Leadership Institute.

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Resolutions

The Resolutions Committee meets annually at the Society's National Convention. The group is charged with presenting timely issues for debate before the Society's voting delegates. Its members serve to keep order at business meetings of the Society and to facilitate thoughtful debate. Drafts of resolutions can be submitted by any member of the Society either prior to, or during, convention.

Committee Roster

Resolutions Committee Chair

Gordon "Mac" McKerral
Western Kentucky University
140 Bright St. Apt. C
Bowling Green, KY 42104
Work: (270) 745-5882
E-mail
Bio (click to expand) Gordon “Mac” McKerral is an associate professor and the news-editorial sequence coordinator in the School of Journalism & Broadcasting at Western Kentucky University.

He served as national president of the Society of Professional Journalists September 2003 to September 2004. In October 2005, he received the SPJ’s highest award, The Wells Key, for longtime contributions to journalism and SPJ’s mission. He received a national First Amendment Award from SPJ for his work with the Campus Courts Task Force, which focused on gaining public access to campus crime records and campus judiciary records related to hearings on crimes.

McKerral has spent more than 25 years as a journalist and journalism educator. He has been a reporter and editor at newspapers in Illinois, Indiana, Florida and New York and Indiana.

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Studio SPJ

Liner Notes Blog | SPJ @ Blog Talk Radio | Committee Roster

Studio SPJ Committee Chair

Holly Fisher
Account Executive
Step Ahead Inc.
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Bio (click to expand) Holly Fisher works as an account executive for Step Ahead Inc., a public relations, social media and Internet marketing firm in Charleston, S.C. She also does freelance writing and editing. She worked more than a decade as a newspaper reporter and editor in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Texas and South Carolina. Fisher is a former Region 3 director and board member for the Society of Professional Journalists and a former board member of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. She served as chairwoman of the Membership Committee for 2009-2010. Fisher also has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston. She is a member of the Center for Women in Charleston and serves on the steering committee of the Charleston Young Professionals. Fisher has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University and a master’s of mass communication from the University of South Carolina. She lives in Mount Pleasant, S.C., with her husband, Clint; daughter, Katherine; and two Labrador retrievers.

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