President
Elizabeth Jia, Multimedia Journalist/Producer, WUSA 9 (CBS)
Elizabeth Jia currently profiles local non-profit organizations as a multimedia journalist/producer for WUSA 9. These “Hero Central” feature segments examine people’s recovery from trauma, homelessness and other challenges with the help of non-profit organizations. She interviews, shoots video, writes and edits each news piece. Her WUSA 9 coverage on high school bullying was an award finalist for the 2012 Dateline Awards by the Society of Professional Journalists’ D.C. Pro chapter.
In recent years she has been involved with the SPJ D.C. Pro chapter as a judge for the Mark of Excellence and Sigma Delta Chi awards. She also won an MOE for her radio feature as a college student.
She is a proud alumna of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. During senior year in college, she served as president of the SPJ student chapter on campus. She helped organize guest speakers including Alicia C. Shepard, author of the book, Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate. She also actively recruited members for the student chapter and attended two SPJ national conventions (Chicago and Las Vegas).
While completing her Master’s thesis in journalism at Georgetown, she offered advice to the Dean on launching the SPJ student chapter on campus.
Elizabeth Jia is eager to serve the SPJ D.C. Pro Chapter. She would like to empower the SPJ DC Pro chapter membership with knowledge of current news technology and the successes within today’s newsroom.
Vice President
Kathy Burns, George Mason University instructor and freelance journalist
A Chicago native, Kathy Burns received degrees from Clarke University in Dubuque, IA, and the University of Wisconsin in Madison, with a fellowship in business and economics journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia. She joined SPJ at the completion of graduate school and has been a member ever since, including a stint as DC Chapter president when it hosted a national SPJ convention. Kathy has been an active judge for SPJ Mark of Excellence, Date Line and Sigma Delta Chi national competitions, including 3 in recent months. Her first reporting job was at the Chicago Tribune where she did general assignment, sports, theater reviews and local news. She was a member of the Task Force Team which won a Pulitzer Prize for its investigation of vote fraud. Moving into the corporate media world, she was director of consumer affairs for a national retail chain and won a Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America for an energy awareness campaign.
From there, she went to Detroit as bureau chief for Fairchild Publications for 7 trade journals, including Women’s Wear Daily. She moved to Washington to get married and worked on newsletters and for UPI before serving as a congressional investigator and speech writer for the House Government Operations Committee. Her husband’s job took them to Canberra, Australia, for 5 years where he served in the US Embassy and she was the only US reporter in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. She also taught in the journalism department at Canberra University. During that period, as a foreign correspondent, she wrote over 500 articles for US publications and was a stringer for CNN. She was also invited to give 3 guest lectures at Parliament House on aspects of journalism. Returning to the US, she was the inaugural program director for Georgetown University’s Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies before serving as an editor for an international trade journal that picked up 7 national journalism awards.
Throughout her career, Kathy has had academic ties, teaching in 6 Washington-area colleges and universities, and she is currently affiliated with George Mason University in Fairfax. Through GMU, she also took training to become a state certified mediator and hears cases in the DC, Arlington and Fairfax Courts. She also serves as a mentor for mediator trainees.
“If elected, I look forward to re-joining the SPJ Board and to working with my colleagues to help organize chapter programs on a wide gamut of current topics,” she said. “Now, more than ever, we need organizations like SPJ to champion the role of the First Amendment. We need to keep the balance in the media coverage between personal privacy issues and the public’s right to know versus the challenges of government-imposed secrecy and the demand for crucial transparency.”
Recording Secretary
Andrew Mullen Scott
I'm the principal social media coordinator for Carahsoft, a government software solutions reseller and distributor in the D.C. metro area. Prior to this role, I served as the communications manager for Mobilize.org, a D.C.-based civic engagement nonprofit. My first job out of college was in SPJ's year-long communications coordinator fellowship position at the Society's national headquarters in Indianapolis. During my studies at the University of Mississippi's Meek School for Journalism and New Media I was fortunate to serve in many journalism focused internships, including an administrative research position with the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. I was also fortunate to intern for NBC Nightly News during the 2008 U.S. Presidential Debate at Ole Miss.
I'm proud to say I have been a member of the Society since 2008 and served as my student chapter's VP and President during my college tenure. Over the years, SPJ has afforded me the opportunity to grow as a media professional through the greater service of its mission. As the DC chapter's recording secretary, I hope to continue those works with an innovative eye for talent, truth and energy.
Corresponding Secretary
Joseph P. Cirone
I became a member of SPJ (Wash DC Pro Chapter) on 11/15/06, as recorded at SPJ HQ and verified by the Membership Director.
I started a new job in summer, 2009 and became distracted with doing what I needed to do to succeed there, my membership lapsed. I rejoined in Feb. 2012, when I noticed the Chapter had a renewed sense of vitality and if I get elected to the board, I want to help continue.
I am also a member of NPC (was on two committees in 2010); NPPA; RTDNA, IRE, MRE and WHNPA (I am co-Chair of the WHNPA Gala this year and in the near future).
I began my career at age 16 (in the mid/late 1970s), doing freelance work (writing and stills) in the NY/NJ area. Then, as now, my specialization is spot news, government and military.
I am a certified firefighter (since the 1980s); emergency medical technician (since 1975); emergency manager (since 1975); public affairs officer; producer, director of photography and former federal law enforcement officer.
I started a photo business in June, 1976 to serve as the legal, formal entity for my freelance news work. I ended that business in 2010 to prevent any possible conflict of interest related to my job, which I began in summer, 2009.
Since 1989, I have been what we now call a mobile journalist (writing and shooting stills and adapting to more reliance and use of laptop computers and digital stills in 1996 and totally digital and mobile in 2002 when 5MP digital cameras produced acceptable imagery for news).
That same year, I began working for a U.S. government agency. I have worked for the government in the military (in information technology and public affairs) and law enforcement (in law enforcement, technical operations/intelligence/information technology) in the USA and in various parts of the world, including living in South America.
During 2005-2009, I shot many dozens (at its height, some 40-50) weddings per year and my business had the highest rating by the BBB.
In 2012, I added to the tool box and changed my focus when I became a “one-man band” mobile journalist (I now write and edit; shoot and edit stills; shoot, produce and edit video; produce and edit audio), but have focused almost entirely on video and writing, rather than stills and audio.
(Although stills and audio are often a byproduct of my video products, so I get the synergy of doing work once and having multiple products emerge as a result).
I continue working for the government (as a public affairs officer for a military organization), interfacing with and helping my fellow journalists and the local community in every way possible. I help ensure the transparency of the government so that taxpayers and others can continue to have confidence with the way we conduct business and are good stewards of the resources we are given, as well as utilize government resources to help people in need to the extent that it is legal, ethical and possible.
If elected, I look forward to helping in every way I can to continue the Chapter’s upward climb and increased membership, activity and participation by its members.
Treasurer
Amy Fickling
I have been active in the Washington, D.C., chapter for many years while working as a reporter and/or editor at a variety of media outlets in the metropolitan area, and stand ready and willing to continue to serve the organization.
Having been chapter president (1991) and a two-term national SPJ board member — as Region 2 director (1993 to 1997) — after moving "up the ladder" from recording secretary and Dateline editor positions, I stepped aside from officer positions for a few years to give others their turn at leadership roles in the chapter. After a return to the board, I have been treasurer for several years now. I've also served on the chapter's and national SPJ's SDX Foundations, currently serving as vice president of the chapter's SDX foundation, its education arm that provides scholarships to undergraduate journalism students at area colleges.
I am standing for re-election as treasurer to continue serving the chapter while it transitions to its more rigorous financial requirements put in place by the national organization.
The chapter is active and its engine is oiled and fueled by volunteers, but occasionally, we need to spend money to achieve our goals and present our programs. I am happy to serve as chapter treasurer to facilitate the financial end of our chapter activities. I look forward to continuing in that role so that other officers and members don't have to worry about bills being paid and checks deposited on time, and can be sure the books are in order.
Board of Directors (2-year term)
Margaret A. Mulvihill
SPJ provides a much-needed shot in the arm for the education of young journalists and media professionals. With the proliferation of online news outlets, there is a need for journalists who can not only create good quality content, but understand how to edit it. We all need the support of our peers, and in SPJ, we have found it. I fully support the mission of SPJ, and I believe we are all working together to support a free press. I would like to see the DC Chapter grow stronger in numbers. Although new to SPJ, I am enjoying the collegiality of my peers and the pleasure of helping produce the newsletter.
Minal Bopaiah
I am the Editor of Subscription Site Insider, a premium online publication that helps paid content professionals sell more online and digital subscriptions. I've recently moved to DC after a year in Boston and many years in New York (where I volunteered a bit with the New York chapter of SPJ).
While Subscription Site Insider covers a variety of subscription websites and niches, I am most interested in helping news sites find sustainable financial models that allow journalists to earn a living wage while providing a needed public service. In addition, since I have a Master's degree in clinical psychology and spent some time working as a psychologist, I am interested in harnessing the power of the media to reduce mental illness stigma. This requires educating journalists about the nature of mental illness as well as eradicating underlying assumptions that often lead to stereotyping and incorrect logic about legal frameworks to stop crime and violence.
As Board Member of SPJ's DC Pro Chapter, I hope to use my position to organize events that further discussion about all of these important issues, as well as listen and help journalists address the problems they face as professionals in a rapidly-changing industry.