November 2011 Newsletter of the Press Club of Cleveland from the President Ed Byers Another Hall of Fame Induction Is His- Tory and This One Was a Milestone
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Join Us on November 2011 Newsletter of The Press Club of Cleveland From the President Ed Byers Another Hall of Fame induction is his- tory and this one was a milestone. It was our 30th such event. A great event at that. Dare I say, perhaps our best? Since 1981, nearly 170 of the best in Cleveland’s news business have been inducted into our Hall of Fame. But to those of us who covered the events of the past 30 years, it would seem as though 1981 was just yesterday. Iran had released the 52 Americans it held for 444 days within minutes of Ronald Reagan succeeding Jimmy Carter as the President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis. It was also the year that MTV made its debut on cable Hall of Fame Ceremony another Perfect Evening television. Before a national TV audi- By Stuart Warner thousand ways to shoot a brick,” she re- ence, Major League Baseball resumed Herb Thomas and Kelly O’Donnell called. Translation: There are many ways to from a long strike with the All-Star Game provided perfect bookends for the 30th approach a story … you just have to keep down at the Municipal Stadium. annual Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame looking until you find one that works. That same year, The Press Club of induction ceremony on Oct. 28 at LaCen- And their long relationship was cement- Cleveland held its very first Journalism tre in Westlake. ed when they were inducted into the Hall Hall of Fame ceremonies inducting Thomas, WJW-TV videographer, was of Fame on the same evening. Dorothy Fuldheim, Louie Seltzer, Paul first to receive the Chuck Heaton award for Also inducted at LaCentre were Chan- Bellamy, Bruce Catton, David Dietz, his contribution to journalism and to the nel 3’s Tom Beres, The Plain Dealer’s Tom Phillip Porter, Artemus Ward, Milt community. O’Donnell, a star now at NBC Feran and Phillip Morris, and former Plain Widder, Roelif Loveland, John Raper and News, was the last member of the class of Dealer and Akron Beacon Journal investi- William R. McDermott. 2011 to be inducted. gative reporter Bob Paynter. I want to thank Stu and his Hall of And her story topped off another inspir- They each had a story to tell. Fame Committee and Richard Stewart of ing evening. Beres, a longtime political reporter for DigiZOOM Media for those great videos As a kid, she said, Friday nights were WKYC-TV, recounted how he first got and for taking this year’s event to new special at her home in Cleveland. “We’d hired in Dayton because the station man- heights. order a pizza and turn on the TV set … to ager, striving for diversity on the staff, Coming up: another milestone for watch Big Chuck and Little John … with thought he was Puerto Rican. “Beres is The Press Club – 125 years! As I pointed Herb Thomas as Soul Man.” Hungarian … but he insisted on pronounc- out in my remarks at the Hall of Fame She was thrilled to meet Thomas when ing it buh-REZ,” Beres (BEAR-ess) said. ceremony, 2012 will be The Press Club’s she went to WJW as a high school intern. Morris also came to Cleveland from the 125th year in existence. We are one of And even more impressed when she began Dayton market. “I thought Cleveland was a the oldest institutions in Cleveland, working with him when she became a three-year stop,” said Morris, who has now older than the Terminal Tower, The reporter after graduating from Northwest- twice been a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his Cleveland Clinic, The City Club, the ern University. local column writing. “But Cleveland has a Indians, Browns, Cavaliers, and Rock ‘N As O’Donnell has scaled the heights way of growing on you … people who move Roll itself. We pre-date radio and TV. We of network news, covering stories in 50 here soon recognize that this is a phenom- are planning some major events to cele- states and 48 countries, she said she has enal city.” brate this milestone and as soon as I can always taken with her one lesson she Paynter, a St. Louis native, got a double continued on page 2 > learned from Thomas: “He said there’s a continued on page 4> 28022 Osborn Road Cleveland, Ohio 44140 | 440-899-1222 | Fax: 440.899.1010 | www.pressclubcleveland.com 2 The Press Club of Cleveland November 2011 “Ask Laurie” Laurie Mitchell Certified Personnel Consultant Looking for a job, a Finding top-notch marketing and selves? new career, or trying to communications talent with the Reinvention is critical. Those who make a job transition? full panoply of both traditional and can’t or won’t acquire new skills will be The Byliner presents a digital/e-commerce skills is very diffi- left by the wayside. question and answer cult. Candidates who have worked with Speaking of which, to what de- session on today’s job all the disparate tools in the marketing gree has the economy impacted job market with Press Club tool box are highly desirable. And, there demand? Member Laurie Mitch- is a new term to describe this combined Given that I specialize in very sophis- ell, certified personnel skill set of traditional and digital: “tra- ticated white collar searches, I can’t consultant. digital.” speak for all fields but I do know that What positions are “hot” in today’s Is it difficult to find qualified job the executive search colleagues I’m in job market? candidates with skill-sets that are in touch with are as insanely busy as I am In the last six months, most of demand? filling demanding, multi-faceted roles. my searches have been for Internal/ It is challenging to find candidates For those of us with sons or daugh- Change Management/Executive Com- who have sufficiently broad skill sets ters in high school, what is the best munications, Digital/Interactive/E- such that they can perform pieces and career advice you could offer? Commerce and Media Relations for parts of what used to be many different At the very least, teach them to write large companies. All of these roles have specialist roles. well and to listen carefully. Instill in very specific job descriptions call- Which kinds of jobs/positions have them good judgment, common sense, ing for a wide variety of both written “cooled” over the past few years? honor, decency and compassion. And, and intangible interpersonal skills Only forty hours per week jobs or constantly remind them that once including writing in different “voices,” those which can be left at the office with something is posted online, it never thought leadership, strategic mes- no need to be connected 24/7. completely disappears. saging, very sophisticated B2B online The biggest challenge is finding all the content generation targeted to specific required technical proficiencies, desired audiences, and nearly all positions I personality traits and high-level inter- Laurie Mitchell & Company, Inc. place lately require “boardroom pres- personal skills which complement those Marketing Communications ence” and highly developed leadership of corporate management in one person. Executive Search skills. What about those who have been [email protected] Are you finding a sufficient talent “downsized” – are you finding more pool to fill these positions? people being forced to reinvent them- www.LaurieMitchellCompany.com Press Club Member FROM THE PRESIDENT FROM PAGE 1 Anniversaries talk about them, you will read all about it important now than ever before and I right here. thank you for that! November We have a great board of trustees Next up: we are busy planning a star- with some wonderful people involved, studded Holiday Party and annual meeting 4 years a world class monthly newsletter, and for mid-December. Stay tuned for details. Jennifer L. Kramer two major events every year. The Hall of -Ed Melanie A. Shakarian Fame induction every October and the Excellence in Journalism Awards every 1 year June. I am proud to be associated with this organization and I hope you are too. Steve Roszczyk As President, my mission has been try- ing to keep the Club relevant, fresh and moving forward. But it comes with a price A publication of tag. As we head toward 2012, we face The Press Club of Cleveland some huge financial challenges. Keeping Editor up with the times is expensive. It cost a Lee Moran lot of money to upgrade our website and we were forced to switch to “online con- Associate Editor testing” for our Excellence in Journalism Maryana Bradas Awards this year, costing thousands Contributing Reporters of dollars, but we had little choice. So, Stu Warner YOUR support, your membership is more Ed Byers November 2011 The Press Club of Cleveland 3 Dan Coughlin, Releases His Second Book in One Year: The “Pass the Nuts - More Stories About the Most Unusual, Eccentric & Outlandish People I’ve Known” of Cleveland Danny Coughlin (Press Club Hall of “Serving and honoring communications Fame, Class of 1996) serves up a second professionals since 1887.” collection of stories, “Pass the Nuts” (Gray & Co.) about colorful characters and President: Ed Byers memorable events from his four decades Medical Mutual of Ohio covering sports for Cleveland TV and 216/687-2685 newspapers. When we questioned the Vice President: Stuart Warner title, we were told, “reading Dan is like The Write Coach LLC dipping into a bowl of bar nuts – easy to [email protected] start and hard to stop!” Knowing Dan like we do, it makes perfect sense. The follow- Secretary & Treasurer: Carol Kovach ing is a quick glimpse of the new book Sun Newspapers 216/986-6060 from Dan.