NSPA & ACP THROUGH THE DECADES

2013

LOGAN LEAVES NSPA/ACP

NSPA/ACP and its executive director Logan Aimone mutually agreed to part ways on June 10. Aimone held the position for six years. David Therkelsen serves as interim director.

< APPOINTMENT MAKES HISTORY

The board of directors names Diana Mitsu Klos as NSPA/ ACP executive director as of Nov. 1, making her the first Asian American and second woman to serve as executive director in 92 years. Klos, a media education and nonprofits consultant based in northern Virginia, was a senior staff member at the American Society of News Editors from 1996 to 2012.

2016

MITSU

Klos Departs

Diana Mitsu Klos steps down as NSPA/ACP executive director effective June 15. “I have loved my time with NSPA/ACP and everyone associated with it. However, this leadership position requires someone who can commit to living in the Twin Cities region full time, which unfortunately I cannot,” Mitsu Klos said. Associate director Laura Widmer is named interim executive director.

< WIDMER NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

On Aug. 15, the board of directors names associate director Laura Widmer as executive director. Widmer advised student media at middle school, high school and college levels during her 33-year teaching career. While student media director at Northwest Missouri State University, her students and publications were honored with numerous national awards, including the Pacemaker. In 1991, she was elected CMA president.

ACP, CMA HOST SEPARATE CONVENTIONS

For the first time since 1954, ACP and CMA do not share convention sponsorship of the fall National National College Media Convention. ACP’s convention, in Washington, D.C., features two keynote speakers — Washington Post investigative reporter Bob Woodward and expat digital whistleblower Edward Snowden, who spoke remotely from Russia.

2017

EDITOR-IN-RESIDENCE

Serving as co-director of recruiting and hiring for The Washington Post prepares Bill Elsen to share his experience and insights with college and high school journalists as editor-in-residence at conventions after he retired after almost 34 years with the newspaper. “After I left the Post, universities including Virginia Tech, Iowa State, Northwest Missouri State, Kansas State and Nebraska brought me into their newsrooms to meet students and evaluate newsroom production,” he said. The editor-in-residence program was launched in 2005 and continues in 2022. In 2017, Elsen meets with a student journalist at the ACP/CMA convention in Dallas.

088 TIMELINE // 2010s

A PERFECT COMBO: NSPA, GLORIA SHIELDS

To offer its members a quality summer workshop experience, NSPA joins forces with the Gloria Shields Workshop, established by the Dallas County Schools. Now in its 42nd year, the Dallas-based Gloria Shields NSPA Media Workshop is widely regarded as one of the nation’s top summer workshops, serving 500 to 800 students.

9-11: THE COLLEGE PRESS RESPONDS

“ITWAS A DAY of stunning surprises, anxiety, tears and, for thousands of collegiate newspaper journalists, a day — and weeks — of adrenaline rushes unlike any they ever had in their newsrooms. The biggest story of their still young journalism careers was unfolding on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.” These words from executive director Tom Rolnicki introduce a 56-page book published by ACP showcasing the coverage from 77 collegiate newspapers.

Pacemaker Pose

After receiving her Pacemaker finalist plaque for the SAC.Media website, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, California, editor Ferry Baylon poses with the plaque at the 2019 Washington, D.C. convention.

Best Of Show

Since 1986, the Best of Show competition has been a popular offering at NSPA/ACP conventions. The contest ranks student media represented at the convention. At the 2022 ACP conference in Long Beach, the Talon Marks website, Cerritos College (California), took home the iconic gold-cup trophy. Christian Brown, adviser, celebrates with Laura Widmer, executive director.

“IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION”

ACP, CBI, CMA and CMBAM recognize Frank LoMonte, outgoing SPLC executive director, “for his tireless dedication, everlasting enthusiasm and love of the First Amendment and student press freedoms” at a special recognition dinner on July 17, 2017, at the Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis during the College Media Mega Workshop. CMA president Kelley Lash presents the plaque.