Hall of Fame inductee Sonya Ross speaks at the 2018 Dateline Awards and Hall of Fame dinner.
The DC Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is seeking nominees for its 2019 Hall of Fame class and its Distinguished Service Award.
The criterion for membership in the Hall of Fame is simply this: strong journalism over at least 25 years in Washington. The Distinguished Service Award goes to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself by contributing to the development of local journalism, mentoring other journalists and/or by working in the community.
Nominations are due by Feb. 25, 2019, and can be emailed to Steve Taylor, Awards Committee chairman, at juxta747@gmail.com. SPJ DC Pro members can submit nominations, and honorees will be chosen by the chapter’s board of directors.
Honorees will be recognized at the Dateline Awards and Hall of Fame dinner on June 11, 2019, at the National Press Club in downtown Washington.
The chapter’s Hall of Fame includes more than 150 of the greatest names in Washington journalism. Last year’s inductees were longtime NPR host of “All Things Considered” Robert Siegel, Associated Press race and ethnicity editor Sonya Ross and NBC4/WAMU reporter and analyst Tom Sherwood. Inducted in 2017 were ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten and RealClearPolitics White House correspondent Alexis Simendinger.
The Distinguished Service Award has been presented to 30 honorees since 1987. In 2018, the chapter recognized Gene Policinski, president of The Newseum Institute and its First Amendment Center. Among previous recipients are Lucy Dalglish, dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland; and Charles Lewis, American University professor and executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop.
Learn more about past honorees on the SPJ DC website.
Have questions or want to submit a nomination? Email Steve Taylor at juxta747@gmail.com.