White House correspondent April Ryan, DC Bureau Chief for 7News Sam Ford, and longtime Washington political reporter Jonathan D. Salant will be inducted as members of the Hall of Fame of the Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists, on June 13, 2023.
The criterion for membership in the Hall of Fame is simply this: a record of strong journalism for at least 25 years in Washington.
The three inductees will speak at the chapter’s annual Dateline Awards and Hall of Fame Dinner in the ballroom of the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C. Cocktails begin at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Business attire, black tie optional.
Also during the evening event, the D.C. Chapter’s 2023 Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Paul Albergo, an adjunct educator at American University and Georgetown University, for championing quality journalism as well as diversity, equity and inclusion during his four-decade career with the Bloomberg Industry Group (formerly BNA, or the Bureau of National Affairs). Mr. Albergo also will speak.
Hall of Fame
April Ryan is the senior White House correspondent and Washington, D.C., bureau chief at TheGrio and a political analyst for MSNBC. She is the longest-serving Black female White House correspondent and is the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House – a position she has held for 25 years, since the Clinton administration. She has received an NAACP Image Award and a Freedom of the Press Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for her White House coverage, among other honors. In addition to her trailblazing journalism career, Ryan has authored several books, including the award-winning “The Presidency in Black and White.”
Sam Ford has been with WJLA-TV for more than 36 years and, in his 41 years in the nation’s capital, he says he has covered everything from the White House to the crack house. He has been a broadcaster for more than 50 years, starting with radio stations in Kansas and Minnesota before moving on to television, where he spent a decade as a correspondent at CBS News bureaus in New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Prior to CBS, he reported for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. Ford is a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists and has won several regional Emmy awards for his work, among other honors.
Jonathan D. Salant became the assistant managing editor for politics at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2023 after a long career with The Star-Ledger/NJ.com, Bloomberg News, The Associated Press, and other outlets. He now covers the White House, Congress, politics and federal agencies as they affect western Pennsylvania. He has worked as a regional and national reporter in the nation’s capital for almost 36 years, receiving numerous awards for his work. Salant is a former president of the National Press Club, the Regional Reporters Association and the D.C. Pro Chapter of SPJ. He currently serves on the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which handles credentialing for the daily press galleries at the U.S. Capitol.
Distinguished Service Award
Paul Albergo is an adjunct associate professor with American University’s School of Communication and an adjunct lecturer in the journalism program at Georgetown University. In 2022, he retired as executive editor for Bloomberg Industry Group. He started with the company, then known as BNA, in 1986 as a reporter and over his 36 years there managed several key company teams and publications, including Daily Report for Executives, Banking Report, Privacy & Security Law Report, Health Care Daily Report and Health Care Policy Report, as well as the company’s international network of staff and freelance correspondents.
Dateline Awards for Excellence in Local Journalism
Also at the June 13 dinner, the SPJ D.C. Pro Chapter will present its annual Dateline Awards for excellence in local journalism.
Tickets on sale
Tickets for the dinner are now on sale. The price starts at $100 per person. There are tables of 8 and 10 available for reservation. Watch for updates from SPJ D.C. Pro and through its Eventbrite invitation.
Contact SPJ D.C.’s corresponding secretary and Dateline Dinner Chair Amy Fickling at spjdcchapter@gmail.com if you have ticket questions.
News contact about Hall of Fame and DSA: Rebecca Baker at msbakerrebecca@gmail.com