Illinois Press Association/Foundation 2021 Convention Speakers

Craig Anderson Craig Anderson became the 32nd individual to serve the IHSA as an Assistant Executive Director when he was named to the position by the IHSA Board of Directors on February 11, 2010. On June 9, 2015, Anderson was named to replace Marty Hickman as executive director of the IHSA, upon Hickman's retirement in January, 2016. This makes Anderson the seventh individual to serve as the organization's Executive Director. In this role Anderson provides oversight of investigations, eligibility rulings, strategic planning, fiscal managements, office operations and working with the IHSA Board of Directors. Prior to starting at the IHSA, Anderson held the position of Athletic Director at Washington High School and also served as the Tournament Director for the nationally renowned State Farm Basketball Tournament of Champions. He began his teaching and coaching career at Morton High School, before moving on to Olympia High School, where he was the head football coach for two seasons. Anderson then moved into the role of Activities Director at Olympia, a position he held from 2002-05 before leaving for Washington in 2006.

Mark Baldwin Mark Baldwin is the former executive editor of the Rockford Register Star. During his tenure, he led efforts to introduce news literacy education to Rockford-area classrooms. He previously worked for news organizations in Wisconsin, Kansas, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and was an adjunct lecturer in journalism at Northwestern University. He served as a member of the boards of the Associated Press Media Editors and the News Leaders Association. He was named GateHouse Media Editor of the Year for 2017.

Devlyn Brooks Devlyn Brooks is the president of Modulist, a company he founded for the family-owned Forum Communications Co., headquartered in Fargo, N.D. Modulist is a media services company that processes paid and unpaid user content for newspapers and other media. It specializes in the processing of obituary notices, milestones and business announcements, which drives his passion for excellent customer service. Devlyn has been in the newspaper business for 25 years, serving in nearly every capacity imaginable, including reporting, editing, photography, design, production and management. In addition, Devlyn is an intern pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, working on his master's of divinity degree, upon completion of which he will become an ordained pastor. He currently is a minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He also serves as the chair of the Fargo-Moorhead Big Brothers Big Sisters Advisory Committee, and has experience with serving on numerous other community boards and committees.

Jeffrey Couch Jeffry Couch has led the Belleville News-Democrat’s newsroom for 17 years. In 2018, he was appointed general manager, making him the newspaper’s top executive while also remaining as its editor. Couch joined the BND as executive editor in 2004. During his tenure, the newsroom has expanded its investigative and enterprise work as the BND has evolved into a digital media company and has had a record of strong digital audience growth. With more than 40 years as a professional journalist, Couch has worked as a reporter and editor in western Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Don Craven Don Craven was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois. He attended high school in Pleasant Plains, Illinois, and graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1978. He attended Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale and graduated in 1981.

While in law school, he taught legal writing and Moot Court courses, and was an articles editor for the Southern Illinois University Law Journal.

Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Craven went to work in Springfield for the firm of Londrigan & Potter (now Londrigan, Potter & Randle). For five years he enjoyed a general business practice with that firm. In 1986 Mr. Craven joined his father, James C. Craven, in practice in Springfield, and his practice from 1986 to 1989 concentrated on media issues and voting rights litigation on behalf of Black and Hispanic communities in Illinois and California.

Since 1989, the voting rights portion of Mr. Craven's practice has been significantly reduced, and he now concentrates on libel and First Amendment issues, access to government meetings and records, and the business issues of concern to newspapers.

Mr. Craven is general counsel to the Illinois Press Association, the Illinois News Broadcasters Association, the Illinois Broadcasters Association, and he also maintains a general business practice in Springfield.

Corina Curry Corina Curry was named news director, the top newsroom leadership position, of the Rockford Register Star in March. She has worked for the newspaper for 22 years as a reporter. She has covered everything from crime and courts to city government and education. In recent years, she has focused on watchdog journalism and investigative reporting that exposes disparities and inequities throughout the community. She is the daughter of an Indiana native and a Taiwanese immigrant, and is the first person of color to serve as newsroom leader at the Register Star.

Jeff D’Alessio Jeff D’Alessio is in his second act with The Champaign News-Gazette, where he worked as a sportswriter from 1994-2000 and returned as editor in 2013. In between, he served as sports editor of Florida Today, deputy sports editor and senior editor/news at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and editor-in-chief of Sporting News.

Ryan Dohrn

Ryan Dohrn is the founder of media sales strategy firm Brain Swell Media and the creator of the 360 Ad Sales System taught to over 30,000 media sales professionals in 7 countries. Ryan works with over 200 newspapers per year and has a deep passion for the community newspaper business. Ryan’s 30-year media sales and marketing career includes leadership roles at PennWell Publishing, Morris Publishing, Disney/ABC TV and The NY Times Company. He is an Emmy Award winner, business book author, and has been featured in USA Today and on Forbes.com.

Robert Feder Robert Feder has been keeping tabs on Chicago area media for more than 40 years, most recently with his column in the suburban Daily Herald and his daily blog at RobertFeder.com. He previously was a media critic and columnist for the Chicago Sun- Times, the Chicago Tribune Media Group, Chicago Public Media’s Vocalo Blog network and Time Out Chicago. A lifelong Chicagoan who founded the first and only Walter Cronkite Fan Club at age 14, Feder is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He also has served as an instructor and guest lecturer at Medill. In 2009, he was inducted in the Medill Hall of Achievement. He is the recipient of a Page One Award from the Chicago Newspaper Guild and was named best daily newspaper columnist in Chicago by NewCity in 1997.

Markus Feldenkirchen Markus Feldenkirchen brings over two decades of media experience to his current role at Lineup Systems. During his time working in Germany and the United States for media and technology companies, he became passionate about helping media companies grow, adapt and thrive in a challenging industry. As Lineup’s President of Sales in North America, he consults with some of the region’s largest media organizations to ensure their tactics and tools will serve them well for years to come.

Brad Guettel Brad Guettel has been the Talent Acquisition Manager, Advertising Sales with Lee Enterprises since Feb 2019. He has over 18 years’ Talent Acquisition experience, with majority of time spent recruiting for B2B Sales within Telecommunications, Software, IT and Media industries. His forte is attracting and driving sales talent to the organization. He grew up in Mukwonago, WI and attended Carroll University where he graduated in 2001 and was inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame (football and track) in 2013. He now resides in Waukesha, WI. He is married to my wife Gina with two daughters Julia (15) and Lyla (14). He is a family man with passion for the outdoors, sports, travel, music, and a good bbq. For several years he has been a volunteer youth coach for football and softball and recently has been coaching at the high school level.

His favorite quote to live by is from Steve Prefontaine: “To Give Anything Less Than Your Best, Is To Sacrifice The Gift”

Senate President Don Harmon Don Harmon was elected to serve as the 39th president of the Senate in January 2020. An Oak Park native, Harmon was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 2002. During his time in the General Assembly, he has championed early childhood education, ethics reform, curbing gun violence, protecting civil rights and expanding voter access. In the Senate, he previously served as president pro tempore and chaired the influential Executive Committee.

Jason Hegna Jason Hegna has been in the industry for over 26 years starting his career in a local sales territory for the Daily Herald and moving thru various category sales roles before entering the sales management team. Jason has been in various sales management roles for the last 17 years spending 7 as the Director of Advertising for Daily Herald and the last 6 with Shaw Media currently serving as the VP of Sales.

Brant Houston Professor Brant Houston holds the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois. Houston teaches investigative and advanced reporting in the Department of Journalism in the College of Media at Illinois. He also oversees the online newsroom at Illinois, CU- CitizenAccess.org, which serves as a lab for digital innovation and data journalism. Houston became the chair in 2007 after serving for more than a decade as the executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), a 5,000-member organization, and as a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Before joining IRE, he was an award-winning investigative reporter at daily newspapers for 17 years. Houston is the author of five editions of the textbook, “Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide,” and co-author of the fourth edition and fifth edition of “The Investigative Reporter’s Handbook.” He co- founded the Global Investigative Journalism Network in 2003 and serves as chair of its board of directors. He has taught and spoken about investigative and computer-assisted reporting at newsrooms and universities in 25 countries. Currently he is working on projects involving nonprofit journalism newsrooms, digital tools for news- gathering, and new business models for journalism.

Charity Huff Charity Huff is CEO of January Spring, a digital marketing & advertising agency that works exclusively with Niche publishers. Charity has designed and delivered multi-media sales programs, working alongside 5,000+ sales professionals from the media and tech industries over her 20+ year career. She and her team have built a proven model to enhance your offering to include off-site digital using a combination of geo-fencing, device targeting, household targeting, paid social, and search marketing. Charity sits on the board of several privately-held companies, including Swift Communications.

Janice Hunt Janice Hunt's journalism career began when, as a young child, she published a family newspaper using a plastic toy typewriter and a piece of carbon paper. The Eastern Illinois University graduate started her professional career at the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier in Mattoon/Charleston, working first as a reporter and then in multiple roles in the features department. In 2013, she realized her lifelong dream of owning her hometown newspaper, the Oakland Independent, where she handles all duties – editorial, advertising, circulation and business. In 2020, the newspaper was runner-up in the Illinois Press Association contest sweepstakes in the small nondaily division.

Daryl Kern Daryl has 40-years working in media including broadcast, print and more. Experiences include advertising systems management, accounts receivable and more.

Ginger Lamb Ginger Lamb is the vice president and publisher of Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer. She joined Law Bulletin Media in May of 2016 from Arizona Capitol Times, an award-winning non-partisan news and information service for lobbyists, public affairs and business professionals in Phoenix, Arizona where she served as vice president & publisher. Before that she served as vice president & publisher of The Daily Record in Kansas City, Missouri and editorial director of The Daily Record in Rochester, New York. She is a past president of the Arizona Newspapers Association and served as it’s legislative committee chair. She is also a past president and board member of the American Court & Commercial Newspaper Association. Ginger currently serves as a board member and secretary for the Public Notice Resource Center. A native of Barker, New York, Ginger graduated from the State University of New York, College at Brockport and Niagara County Community College where she received the President’s Medallion and was inducted as a Distinguished Alumnae. Her husband, David, is a design drafter for Michael Baker International.

Pamela Lannom Pam Lannom is editor and co-owner of The Hinsdalean, a weekly community newspaper she and Jim Slonoff launched in 2006. She previously worked for 18 years at The Doings as a proofreader, reporter, managing editor and editor. She has won regional, state and national awards for her writing.

Jackie Martin Jackie Martin has been in the newspaper advertising field for over 38 years. She currently is the Advertising Director for the News-Gazette in > Champaign, Illinois. She enjoys working with staff, helping to create new > and fresh ideas and seeing a project being created from start to finish. > In her career through the years she has been faced with the challenges of how to retain and motivate staff, especially during a pandemic.

Mike Reilley Mike, an SPJ digital trainer in the Google News Initiative program, has trained more than 8,000 journalists and educators in 40 states over the past 5½ years. He also is founder of and trainer in the Penny Press Digital LLC, a consulting and training company. When he’s not doing trainings, he teaches data and multimedia journalism at the University of Illinois- Chicago, where he has been a full-time faculty member for five years. A former reporter at the LA Times and web editor at the Chicago Tribune, Mike served for 13 years as a faculty member at Northwestern, Arizona State University and DePaul University, teaching digital journalism to hundreds of students and professional journalists. He holds journalism degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (undergrad) and Northwestern University (masters). Mike founded and updates the research site The Journalist’s Toolbox (journaliststoolbox.org) for SPJ and runs the award-winning Chicago site, The Red Line Project (redlineproject.org). Twitter: @journtoolbox | Email: [email protected] | Newsletter: https://journaliststoolbox.substack.com/ | Training videos: https://bit.ly/jtbyoutube

Bev Sams A Midwest transplant, Bev Sams has more than 30 years of media and marketing experience. Though she’s a true salesperson at heart, her main goal is to train and lead her sales team to help the customer through the multimedia buying process and, more importantly, transform her executives into multimedia experts. In addition to coaching and leading her team, she believes it’s important to give more than you take. That creed has led her to always try to exceed the AE’s and newspaper customer’s expectations. If you do that, she says, you will always have motivated AE’s and long-term customers. Outside of the office, Bev loves spending time with her two young adult children. She also loves to cook, work on home improvement projects with her husband, and anything outdoors. Tucson will always be home to Bev. And as one of 6 children, she spends a lot of time traveling west to visit her very large family.

Susan Walker Susan Walker is currently vice president and general manager of the Hyde Park Herald. She has held this position since 1994. Walker began her career in the newspaper field in 1978 as a receptionist at Suburban Trib, a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune. She soon realized that the newspaper ink ran threw her veins. After two years in the office position, Walker decided to join the advertising sales department and was a top achiever in the field. After a few years away, Walker decided to get back into the newspaper industry and started working at the Daily Calumet. The newspaper was purchased by Pulitzer Community Newspapers and soon she was promoted to advertising manager. After a lengthy stint at the Pulitzer, a coworker approached her about an interview with Bruce Sagan, publisher/owner of the Hyde Park Herald. In 1994, Walker was offered a position at the Hyde Park Herald. In this new role, she became involved with many different aspects of the business as promised by Sagan. Walker is assistant secretary for Cook County Suburban Publishing and she is also the vice president of Accredited Chicago Newspapers. She soon became involved with Illinois Press Association (IPA). In her early years, it was more of a behind the scenes part. During the last fifteen years, she has become much more in the forefront. Presently, she is vice chairman of the IPA board and on the Government Relations Committee.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch Emanuel “Chris” Welch has served as a state representative in the Illinois General Assembly since January 2013. On Jan. 13, 2021, he became the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, the first Black lawmaker to hold the position. Prior to becoming speaker, Welch served as chairman of the House Executive Committee and before that he chaired the Higher Education Committee. Welch is a Democrat from Hillside.