Media Internships Focus of Free Panel Discussion at Pitt Oct. 18

PITTSBURGH—Editors and writers representing television, radio, print media, publishing, the Web, and public relations will offer advice on how to secure an internship at a panel discussion titled “The Importance of Media Internships: Ways to Write for a Living” from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Lower Lounge of the William Pitt Union, 3959 Fifth Ave., Oakland. 

Sponsored by Pitt’s Department of English and The Pitt News, the annual event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Caren Marcus at 412-624-1737 or caren@pitt.edu. 

The annual Al McDowell Memorial Scholarship, named in memory of Pitt alumnus McDowell (A&S ’52), a Pittsburgh broadcasting pioneer, will be presented at the event to a Pitt undergraduate student in the English department’s nonfiction writing program.

Information regarding the moderator and the panelists follows.

Moderator

David Shribman, executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism in 1995 for his coverage of Washington and the American political scene. Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, he was the Washington, D.C., bureau chief of The Boston Globe and worked in various positions at The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Star, and The Buffalo Evening News. His column, “National Perspective,” is syndicated to more than 50 papers nationally.

Panelists

Tracy Certo, founding editor and publisher of Pop City, has helped grow the online magazine from 4,000 subscribers to more than 40,000. Pop City focuses on economic issues and the people and places advancing the Pittsburgh region, with original writing and photography. A Pitt alumnus, Certo (A&S ’79) ran her own marketing and writing business for more than a decade before launching Pop City.

Marin Cogan is a GQ correspondent covering the 2012 presidential race. Previously, she was a reporter on Capitol Hill for POLITICO and an assistant editor at The New Republic. She is a 2008 graduate of Pitt’s nonfiction writing program and has completed three internships. 

Jennifer Curry, managing editor of the Pittsburgh Business Times, joined the paper in 2004. Previously, she held positions there as reporter and assistant managing editor.

Steve Forde, vice president of policy and communication at the Marcellus Shale Coalition, is responsible for developing and managing data, research, and policy initiatives pertaining to the natural gas industry and communicating that information to the media, key interest groups, and other energy and community stakeholders.

DeAnne Hamilton is general manager of 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR affiliate. Prior to joining the station, she served as general manager and director of broadcasting services at Michigan State University and as president and station manager of KQED-TV in San Francisco.

Anne Linaberger, news director of KDKA-TV, supervises about 100 staffers who produce 10 hours of live local news a day. Prior to that, she worked as a radio reporter and anchor and as an assistant news director, executive producer, reporter, and anchor for television stations in Pittsburgh and West Virginia. 

Bob Mecoy is president of Creative Book Services, an agency he established following a successful 20-plus-year career in book publishing, including positions at Avon/Morrow, Crown Books, and Simon & Schuster. 

Alan Miller, managing editor of The Columbus Dispatch, began his career at the paper in 1984 as a reporter who covered urban affairs and the city hall beat. He served as assistant city editor, state editor, and assistant managing editor at The Dispatch before assuming his present position. Miller also writes a monthly column and blog about old house repairs for The Dispatch and teaches journalism at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

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10/9/12/mab/cjhm