February 25, 2010
Pennsylvania Women's Press Association is offering a $1,500 scholarship to a journalism major.
Both men and women may apply. Eligibility requirements are that the student be a Pennsylvania resident, a journalism major in a four-year or graduate level program in a Pennsylvania college or university, and be classified as a junior, senior or graduate level student for the fall of 2010..
The winner will be selected on the basis of proven journalistic ability, dedication to journalism, and general merit.
To obtain an application, write to Teresa Spatara, PWPA Scholarship Director, P.O. Box 152, Sharpsville, PA 16150.
Deadline for return of the applications is April 25, 2010.The winner will be notified by May 5, 2010.
The scholarship will be awarded at PWPA's noon luncheon Saturday, May 15 during the 2010 Pennsylvania Press Conference, May 14 and 15, 2010, at the Hilton Harrisburg, One North Second Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101. PWPA will pay for lunch for the scholarship winner and a guest
June 9, 2009
Contest Director Diane Bitting (left), Journalist of the Year, Helen Colwell Adams (middle) and PWPA president Linda Espenshade after the annual PWPA awards luncheon on May 30, 2009 at the Wyndham hotel in Gettysburg.
Stanley Boyer (left), father of scholarship winner Lauren Boyer (middle) and PWPA president Linda Espenshade after the annual PWPA awards luncheon on May 30, 2009 at the Wyndham hotel in Gettsburg.
PWPA president Linda Espenshade greets attendees at the organization's annual luncheon and awards ceremony on May 30, 2009 at the Wyndham Gettysburg.
Attendees go to the buffet to get lunch at prior to receiving awards at the annual PWPA luncheon and ceremony on May 30, 2009 at the Wyndham Gettysburg.
Newly elected vice-president JoAnne Harrop introduces the scholarship awardee, Lauren Boyer, a senior at Penn State, at the annual PWPA luncheon and awards ceremony on May 30, 2009 at the Wyndham hotel in Gettysburg.
Keynote speaker Terry Mutchler, executive director of the Office for Open Records, address the crowd at the annual PWPA luncheon and awards ceremony on May 30, 2009 at the Wyndham hotel in Gettysburg.
May 21, 2009
Speaker is always ready to serve
By Theresa Hegel
THE INTELLIGENCER
She’s worked in journalism, politics and the law. She’s lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois and Alaska. She was even sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to reveal a source.
But there’s nowhere Terry Mutchler would rather be than in Harrisburg, heading up the state’s Office of Open Records.
“This new position has been a blast,” she said. “It’s precisely what I want to be doing.”
Mutchler’s whole career has been about public service.
As a journalist working for the Associated Press, she was the first woman to be appointed as statehouse correspondent in Illinois.
She covered casinos in Jersey and spent some time in the ’90s covering the wintry political scene in Juneau - well before Sarah Palin made the place fashionable (or infamous, depending on your view).
Mutchler said she left journalism to avoid ethical conflicts after she fell in love with a source.
When she turned 30, she enrolled in law school, fulfilling a lifelong dream to become a lawyer.
She worked for a large Chicago law firm and clerked for a retired chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and President Clinton’s executive office.
She also served as an adviser to an Illinois senator and the Illinois attorney general. Before accepting Gov. Ed Rendell’s appointment to be executive director of the newly formed Open Records Office last April, she served in a similar capacity in Illinois, working as the first public access counselor to enforce that state’s sunshine laws.
Mutchler is passionate about keeping government open.
“It sounds kind of soapboxish, but the bottom line is citizens own this government,” she said. “They have a right to know what’s going on in it.”
Since Pennsylvania’s open records law became active in January, the office already has 278 pending appeals before it, she said.
“It’s already well-worn,” Mutchler said of the months-old law.
Fewer than 10 of those appeals were filed by journalists. But that doesn’t mean the law isn’t crucial for news writers.
“It’s as important as a pen,” Mutchler said, calling the law a tool that fosters accountability.
At the end of the month, Mutchler will take some time out of her busy schedule to speak to PWPA members at our awards luncheon on how best to use the tool and update us on how it has been received so far.
May 1, 2009
The winners of the Annual PWPA "Newswriter of the Year" contest have been announced. Click here to see a list of the winners.
Copyright 2009. Limited reproduction with permission.
