On behalf of the entire OPC, I would like to extend a heartfelt Thank You to the members of the Nominating Committee.
The OPC is only as strong as our members and our mission, and the people who comprised this year’s Nominating Committee were a testament to our current strength and their hard work will safeguard our future. They have produced an extraordinary slate of candidates that further demonstrate the power and the promise of the OPC. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The New York Times, in his keynote address at this year’s awards dinner said journalism and journalists should strop wringing our hands and start pounding our chest about our accomplishments and our grit. Both the members of this committee and the slate that their hard work – and the membership – brought forth suggest that Dean is right.
Thank you to co-chairs Jane Ciabattari and Brian Byrd, and members David Andelman, Rukmini Callimachi, Bill Collins, Charles Graeber, Lara Setrakian and Liam Stack. The diversity of the committee – in gender, generation, platform, and freelancer vs. staff – helped produce the diversity of the slate, and the excellence. Thank you to the committee and thank you to all the members who contributed suggestions, and to all those who are running in the most competitive OPC election in memory.
And finally, please remember to cast your vote by noon Aug. 24.
Marcus Mabry
President, Overseas Press Club of America