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Pennsylvania Press Conference
May 29 - 30, 2015
The Wyndham Gettysburg
Connect
with Your
Community:
Modern Newsrooms & the Push
for High-Impact Journalism
Artwork courtesy of Metro Creative Graphics
P E N N S Y L V A N I A
A S S O C I A T I O N
Pennsylvania Society
of News Editors
Pennsylvania Press Conference w May 29 - 30, 2015 w The Wyndham Gettysburg
Schedule of Events
FRIDAY, MAY 29
9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Conference Registration
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
PNA Foundation Readership Workshop: Take a Closer Look at Your Audience
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
PNA Foundation Readership Workshop Luncheon
12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
PSNE Silent Auction Open
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
PAPME Board Meeting
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
PAPME Business Meeting
3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. PSNE Board of Directors Meeting
4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. PSNE General Membership Meeting
6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
7:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
PAPME Reception
PAPME Annual Awards Banquet with Guest Speaker Terry Mutchler
9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
PWPA Board of Directors Meeting
9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Hospitality Suite
SATURDAY, MAY 30
7:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Conference Registration
7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Penn State Liaison Breakfast
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
PSNE Silent Auction Open
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Student Tape and Resume Critiques
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
PSNE Breakout Session: The Eric Frein Manhunt: Best Practices for Covering Major
Breaking News
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
PAPBA Breakout Session: Responsibilities in Reporting Crisis News
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Joint Session: New Faces of Journalism
PWPA General Membership Meeting
PWPA Annual Awards Luncheon
1:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
PSNE Breakout Session: What Your Readers are Really Telling You
1:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
PAPBA Breakout Session: New Digital Tools You Can Use
3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PSNE Breakout Session: How They Did It Panel: Featuring 2015 Keystone Press
Award Winners
3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PAPBA Breakout Session: Building Partnerships and Sharing Content
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Society of Professional Journalists Awards Reception
5:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Keystone Press Awards and PAPBA Awards Reception
6:30 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.
Keystone Press Awards Banquet
6:30 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.
PAPBA Awards Banquet with Guest Speaker Brad Bumsted
10:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Hospitality Suite
Pennsylvania Press Conference w May 29 - 30, 2015 w The Wyndham Gettysburg
Session Details
FRIDAY, MAY 29
10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
PNA Foundation Readership Workshop: Take a Closer Look at Your Audience
Attend this workshop and learn what data is telling you about how audiences engage with news,
as well as how you can begin to use data to inform your journalism, not replace it.
Speaker: Tom Rosenstiel, Executive Director, American Press Institute
*Additional information enclosed.
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
PNA Foundation Readership Workshop Luncheon
6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
PAPME Reception
7:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
PAPME Annual Awards Banquet
Join PAPME and honor the winners of the 2015 Pennsylvania APME News Excellence
Competition and the winner of this year’s Ralph Flamminio Memorial Scholarship.
Guest Speaker: Terry L. Mutchler, Counsel, Pepper Hamilton LLP
Terry L. Mutchler is of counsel with Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Philadelphia office. A former award
winning journalist, trial lawyer and best-selling author, Ms. Mutchler leads the Transparency Practice within the
firm’s Media and Communications Practice Group. The Transparency Practice is designed to promote open
government from a media, government and corporate perspective. In 2008, Ms. Mutchler was appointed
Pennsylvania’s first Executive Director of the Office of Open Records. She also designed working protocols to help
agencies and corporations comply with the complex field of transparency law at the national and local level.
9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Hospitality Suite
SATURDAY, MAY 30
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
PSNE Breakout Session: The Eric Frein Manhunt: Best Practices for Covering Major
Breaking News
Panelists will discuss ways to get the news right, not just first, with a focus on the events of
the Eric Frein manhunt and a public demanding news by the second. Attendees will learn
best practices for the news judgment and ethical decision-making that takes place during the
pressure of a major breaking story. Attendees will also hear how several news organizations
managed staffing and coverage during this ongoing high-profile story, and receive tips on best
practices to put toward coverage of the next major story in their backyards.
Moderator: Scott Blanchard, Sunday Editor, York Daily Record/Sunday News
Panelists:
Tom DeSchriver, Executive Editor, Pocono Record, Stroudsburg
Tom DeSchriver has been the executive editor with the Pocono Record since 2014. He began his career at the
Pocono Record in 1984 in sports, switching to news in 1997. Tom has served in many roles at the Pocono Record,
including copy desk chief, news editor and digital editor.
Joe Kohut, Reporter, The Times-Tribune, Scranton
Staff writer Joseph Kohut joined The Times-Tribune in June, 2012. He spent nine months covering municipal
government before accepting a position as the police reporter, which he covers to this day. Joseph is a New Jersey
native and a 2012 graduate of the University of Scranton. He was introduced to The Times-Tribune during a 2011
internship and began to work at the newspaper upon graduation.
Laurie Mason Schroeder, Reporter, The Morning Call, Allentown
Laurie Mason Schroeder joined The Morning Call in June 2014 after covering courts for Calkins Media in Bucks
County for 16 years. Her stories have won numerous writing awards, including three Pennsylvania Bar Association
William A. Schnader Print Media Awards.
Pennsylvania Press Conference w May 29 - 30, 2015 w The Wyndham Gettysburg
Jessica Matthews, Metro Editor, The Times-Tribune, Scranton
Jessica Matthews was named metro editor of The Times-Tribune in 2011, after serving as business editor for two
years. She joined the paper in 1999, as Wayne County Bureau Chief, then became the paper’s Pittston Bureau
Chief. Shortly after, she was a general assignment/investigative reporter in the Scranton newsroom. As a
reporter, Jessica won dozens of national and state reporting and writing awards, including for exposing a local
employment agency and uncovering problems with the state’s Megan’s Law and abuses at the Lackawanna
County Prison. Her 2003 series on Maxi Staff, the Scranton employment agency that exploited Puerto Rican
workers, was a Pulitzer Prize semi-finalist for investigative reporting in 2004. The series also earned her the
Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors’ top award, Best of Show, in 2004.
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
PAPBA Breakout Session: Responsibilities in Reporting Crisis News
Using the 2014 stabbings at a western Pennsylvania high school as a spring board, the panel
will explore the best ways to “ride the bucking bronco” of breaking news coverage as we
balance the need to provide up-to-the-minute details, the need to be accurate, and the need
to be sensitive to the victims, the suspects and their families. Three unique perspectives will
be offered in a lively interactive discussion.
Moderator: Bill Rehkopf, Afternoon Anchor, 99.1 WNEW
Panelists:
Daveen Rae Kurutz, Database and Enterprise Reporter, Beaver County Times
Daveen Rae Kurutz is a database and enterprise reporter for the Beaver County Times. Prior to The Times,
she spent eight years covering breaking news, suburban education and enterprise for various Trib Total Media
publications. In 2014, while writing for the Murrysville Star, she covered the stabbing of 20 students and a
security guard at Franklin Regional High School. The resulting commemorative issue received a Keystone Press
Award for Special Projects. She also serves as president of the Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association.
Mike Oliveira, News Director, WPXI-TV
Mike Oliveira has been with WPXI-TV, the NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh, since 2005. He served as an executive
producer and then as managing editor before taking over as news director in 2012. Before moving to Pittsburgh,
Mike was a producer at WTVH in Syracuse, NY and at WHDH in Boston. He is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse
School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Mary Catherine Reljac, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and Public
Relations Director, Franklin Regional School District
Mary Catherine Reljac is the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and the public relations
director in Franklin Regional School District in Murrysville. Her primary responsibilities are curriculum, instruction,
assessment, professional development, and public relations. Prior to joining the Franklin Regional team, Mary
served as a principal in the Pine-Richland and Gateway school districts. She also serves as a facilitator for the
Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership Program, specifically working with district administrators on data analysis
strategies to implement meaningful instructional change in schools. Mary holds degrees from Indiana University
of Pennsylvania, Carlow College and earned her Letter of Eligibility from California University of Pennsylvania.
She is currently completing a doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh.
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Joint Session: New Faces of Journalism
As the next generation of reporters begins to ply their trade, what should newsroom managers
expect from them, what do they expect from us and is the concept of a newsroom even a viable
model in the future? We will hear from the next generation, those making their way in the new reality
of “writers for hire” and the old vanguard looking to survive in the new world.
Moderator: Mark Lawrence, Program Director, Newsradio 1070 WKOK
Panelists:
Jim Hamill, Reporter/Anchor, Newswatch 16
Jim Hamill has covered a lot of territory in his time at Newswatch 16. In 2006, he started producing and reporting
at the TV station he watched while growing up. By 2008, he joined the Central PA Newsroom and picked up the
camera to report stories from all over the map. Jim became Newswatch 16’s weekend anchor in 2013.
Pennsylvania Press Conference w May 29 - 30, 2015 w The Wyndham Gettysburg
Chris Krewson, Editor, BillyPenn
Chris Krewson is the editor of BillyPenn. He’s the former executive editor, online of The Philadelphia Inquirer,
where he worked from 2007-2010, leading the digital efforts of Pennsylvania’s largest newspaper. While at
the Inquirer, Chris launched a quick-response breaking news team in the newsroom. He revamped the staff’s
multimedia efforts, and oversaw the newsroom’s continuous news operation, including breaking news and blog
posts from Metro, Sports, Science and Medicine, Business and Features desks.
Matthew Lysiak, Journalist/Author
Matthew Lysiak is a nationally recognized journalist and the author of Newtown: An American Tragedy and
co-author of Breakthrough by Jack Andraka. Matthew is a former reporter for the New York Daily News and has
appeared as a contributor on The Today Show, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and countless other national and local
media outlets to discuss his work. In addition to reporting on almost every major breaking news event spanning
the past seven years, Matthew has told the stories of hundreds of New Yorkers spanning all walks of life.
Craig Stark, Associate Professor of Communications, Susquehanna University
Craig Stark, Ph.D., is an associate professor of communications at Susquehanna University, where he teaches
courses in audio production, video production, mass media history, gaming and interactive media, media law and
critical issues in emerging media. He also serves as the faculty advisor for the school’s radio station, WQSU FM.
Craig has worked and taught in educational broadcasting for twenty years and is active in several professional
and academic organizations, including the Broadcast Education Association. He is the co-author of the Audio
Production Worktext and has published several articles related to media studies.
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
PWPA Annual Awards Luncheon
1:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
PSNE Breakout Session: What Your Readers are Really Telling You
Gone are the days when we tell readers when they will receive the news. Now, they tell us. But
what are they saying? And how do we balance the needs for audience growth with journalistic
integrity? Our panel of experts will share strategies and useful tips for using metrics as part
of our everyday reporting and editing duties. It’s not about click bait (OK, maybe some of it will
be). It’s about how to take the excellent journalism taking place around the state, in newsrooms
big and small, and make sure these stories are getting in front of the eyes of your readers in
the format they desire.
Moderator: Mike Feeley, Director of Content, PA Media Group
Panelists:
Carl Lavin, Lead Homepage Editor, CNN Digital
Carl Lavin is the lead homepage editor for CNN Digital. In this role, Carl directs the team of writers, editors and
producers responsible for creating the content that appears on CNN.com’s homepage. Before joining CNN in
2012, Carl worked for two decades as an editor at The New York Times, where he edited Pulitzer-prize winning
coverage and served as Washington news editor for the Clinton impeachment and the September 11 attacks. He
later went on to hold senior management positions at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Forbes, where he provided
content, social media and strategic consulting to start-up ventures in digital journalism, health information and
e-commerce.
Erica Palan, Social Media Manager, Philly.com, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News
Erica Palan is a Philadelphia-based editor, writer and social media manager. She is currently creating social media
strategies in the newsrooms of Philly.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. Prior to that,
she spent a year learning the business of social media at Chatterblast, a boutique agency focused on content
strategy and social media marketing. Erica has also served as the digital managing editor of Phillymag.com for
more than three years, where she wrote regularly for both the website and the print magazine.
Michael Sedor, Sports Manager, PennLive/The Patriot-News
Michael Sedor is sports manager at PennLive/The Patriot-News. Prior to officially joining The Patriot-News sports
team in 2013, Michael worked for five years on the digital side of operations with PennLive. From the moment
he was hired in 2008, he stressed the importance and need for real-time data analytics. When it arrived late that
year, it changed the way he did every aspect of his job, from writing stories and headlines, to promoting stories, to
managing and redesigning web pages. It is always Michael’s goal and job responsibility for his staff to produce the
highest quality work while maximizing the number of people reading it. In the last two years the sports department
has won five APSE Top 10 awards, including top website, all while raising site traffic 77.9%.
Pennsylvania Press Conference w May 29 - 30, 2015 w The Wyndham Gettysburg
1:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
PAPBA Breakout Session: New Digital Tools You Can Use
We all know Facebook and Twitter, but are you using them to their fullest potential and are
you aware of the plethora of other low-cost sites and apps that can help you get the news to
your audience faster and more accurately? Bring your laptop and smartphone and leave with
a few new tricks.
Speakers: Bill Decker, Assignment Editor, WGAL-TV, News 8
Bill Decker is the assignment editor at WGAL. While on the assignment desk, Bill turned an aggressive
newsroom into a dominant Breaking News machine. In the past year, Bill has made several changes to the
newsroom. The assignment desk has changed from just scanners and fax machines to a digital newsgathering
operation. Bill has introduced newsgathering tools like Alert Page, Broadcastify and Reddit. During his time as the
assignment editor, the station has increased the use of Twitter ten-fold. Bill has experience working in several
positions within the newsroom. Previous to several promotions, Bill was a photographer, editor and associate
producer.
Eric Nazarenus, Assistant News Director, WGAL-TV, News 8
Eric Nazarenus is the assistant news director of one of the strongest television stations in America, WGAL. He
manages a 70 person award-winning news operation experienced in covering stories of national attention. Eric has
nearly 20 years of newsroom management experience. Five of those years were spent as the managing editor at
two stations in Baltimore, WBFF and WBAL. Eric also regularly leads projects for WGAL’s parent company, Hearst
Broadcasting.
3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PSNE Breakout Session: How They Did It Panel: Featuring 2015 Keystone Press Award
Winners
Join us as several of this year’s Keystone Press Award recipients outline the planning and
execution of the big stories that won them statewide recognition in a discussion of journalism
best practices.
3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PAPBA Breakout Session: Building Partnerships and Sharing Content
Using existing partnerships and wishful dreamers as examples, this panel will help
you navigate the pitfalls and road blocks that stand between your siloed operations and
partnerships that benefit all parties.
Moderator: Tim Lambert, Multimedia News Director, WITF
Panelists:
Dave Jones, News Director, WHTM 27 ABC
Dave Jones is an award-winning, aggressive newsroom manager who understands the necessary balance of a
positive work environment and accountability. His chief focus is producing the best content in the marketplace
and motivating staff to win every single day. Dave is also totally in tune with the new media environment and
the reality of dual audiences for television stations. He is a strong social media advocate for brand and content
promotion, as well as a strong advocate for web content, and is well experienced in evolving news operations
from a single to constant deadline mentality.
Jason Maddux, Editor, The Sentinel, Carlisle
Jason Maddux is editor of The Sentinel and cumberlink.com in Carlisle. His role allows him to work with abc27,
WHTM, in Harrisburg, in sharing content and news plans. While working with Gannett papers in Ohio, Jason
coordinated coverage with the NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio.
Adam Ragusea, Journalist in Residence and Visiting Assistant Professor, Mercer University
Center for Collaborative Journalism
Adam Ragusea is a journalist in residence and visiting assistant professor at Mercer University’s Center for
Collaborative Journalism in Macon, Georgia, which unites an undergraduate journalism program, a daily
commercial newspaper and a public broadcaster in a “teaching hospital model” of journalism education and
practice. Adam hosts and produces the weekly podcast “The Pub” for the public broadcasting trade publication
Current, which features his commentaries and interviews on issues affecting public and non-profit media. He
frequently reports on a range of issues for NPR, Slate and other national outlets. A native of State College, Pa.,
Pennsylvania Press Conference w May 29 - 30, 2015 w The Wyndham Gettysburg
Adam is a musician by training, having studied classical composition at Penn State, the Eastman School
of Music and Indiana University. His career in media began at NPR station WFIU in Bloomington, Ind. He’s
since worked as a reporter, producer and host at WBUR in Boston and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Chris Satullo, Vice President of News and Civic Dialogue, WHYY
Chris Satullo is WHYY’s vice president of news and civic dialogue. Before coming to WHYY in 2008, he
was the editorial page editor and a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 2007, he co-founded the Penn
Project for Civic Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, which convenes forums to connect citizen
concerns to journalism and politics. Since 1994, he’s written the Centre Square column, which tries to prove
that centrists aren’t wimps.
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Society of Professional Journalists Awards Reception
Join SPJ as it honors the winners of the Spotlight Contest Awards.
Sponsored by BetterBNC
5:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Reception - Open to Keystone Press Awards Banquet and PAPBA Banquet Attendees
6:30 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Keystone Press Awards Banquet**
w Presentation of the Keystone Press Awards
w PSNE silent auction winners announced
**SPECIAL NOTE: You must pre-register for this event in order to receive your plaque at
the awards banquet. Only the names of those who have pre-registered will be read aloud
during the banquet.
6:30 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. PAPBA Awards Banquet
Guest Speaker: Brad Bumsted, Statehouse Correspondent, Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review
Brad Bumsted is a prominent journalist in Pennsylvania, working for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He is
noted for writing “reform minded stories” about the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Brad has been a
frequent panelist on the Pennsylvania Cable Network’s Journalists Roundtable show and appears
separately on PCN shows to answer viewer phone calls. For several years, he has been interviewed by
PCN on live TV prior to introduction of the governor’s budget proposal. Recently, he appeared as the only
invited guest on a show to discuss issues at the Capitol in an interview with PCN President Brian Lockman.
Brad is also a frequent guest on Pennsylvania Newsmakers on Channel 8 in Lancaster, which has the
largest Sunday TV news show audience in the Central Pennsylvania region.
w Presentation of Annual Awards
10:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Hospitality Suite - Open to Keystone Press Awards Banquet and PAPBA Banquet
Attendees
Save the Date!
2016 Press Conference
May 20 & 21
Hilton Harrisburg
Pennsylvania Press Conference w May 29 - 30, 2015 w The Wyndham Gettysburg
Hotel Reservations
To make overnight room reservations at the Wyndham Gettysburg,
please phone 717.339.0020 or make reservations online at
http://www.wyndham.com/groupevents2015/MDTGE_PAPRESSCONFERENCE/main.wnt
RESERVATIONS ARE DUE BY MAY 4.
Group Rate: $129 for Single Occupancy or Double Occupancy
Plus applicable sales and occupancy taxes.
NOTE: Please mention “PNA Press Conference” to receive this special group rate.
•All reservations must be accompanied by a credit card guarantee or a deposit of one night in advance.
•Check-in time is 3 p.m. Check-out time is 12 p.m.
•All individual cancellations must be made 24 hours prior to the date of arrival. Failure to do so will result in
charging your credit card one night’s room and tax.
•The Wyndham Gettysburg is a non-smoking facility and all guest-rooms are non-smoking.
•Reservations received after May 4 are subject to availability. After May 4, the above rates cannot be guaranteed.
Directions to the Wyndham Gettysburg
The Wyndham Gettysburg is located at 95 Presidential Circle in Gettysburg.
Conveniently located at the intersection of US-15 & US-30 in the Gateway Gettysburg campus,
the Wyndham Gettysburg provides easy access from Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
From Philadelphia: Take the PA Turnpike/I-76 W to Exit 236 (Gettysburg). Take US-15 S to Gettysburg. Take the
York Street (US-30) exit. Make left onto US-30 E. Take the first entrance on the right onto Gateway Boulevard.
Follow signs to Wyndham Gettysburg.
From Harrisburg: Take PA-581 (Capital Beltway) to US 15 S exit, then US 15 S to Gettysburg. Take the York Street
(US 30) exit. Make left onto US 30 E. Take the first entrance on the right onto Gateway Boulevard. Follow signs to
Wyndham Gettysburg.
From Pittsburgh and West: Take the PA Turnpike/I-76 E to Exit Breezewood Interchange, take ramp right for I-70
E toward Baltimore/Breezewood. At exit 147, take ramp right for US-30 E toward Chambersburg/Gettysburg. Bear
right onto US-30/Lincoln Hwy. At roundabout, take 2nd exit. Turn right onto Gateway Blvd. Turn left onto Presidential
Circle. Follow signs to Wyndham Gettysburg.
For additional directions visit: www.wyndham.com/hotels/MDTGE.
Pennsylvania Press Conference is sponsored by:
P E N N S Y L V A N I A
A S S O C I A T I O N
Pennsylvania Society
of News Editors