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"We are deeply saddened and distressed by the violence at the U.S. Capitol. Our thoughts are with the reporters
who have demonstrated such courage and resolve in witnessing and reporting this attack on our democracy."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-- St. Louis Press Club President Joan Berkman


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Upcoming Events


View and share our calendar of events here.


In February (date still to be determined), we will be having a Zoom program with keynote speaker, Major Garrett, Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News, who will also be receiving the St. Louis Press Club’s Lifetime Achievement award. 


Next Press Club Zoom Executive Committee Meeting
Friday, February 12th at 11 a.m.

Next Press Club Zoom Board Meeting
Tuesday, January 16th at Noon

Click Here for the 2021 Meeting Schedule


 

 

Recent Press Club Events & Announcements

 


Click Here to Apply for the 2021 Press Club Scholarships


Press Club’s New President: Joan Lee Berkman


Photo by Craig Currie

Joan Lee Berkman, a marketing, public relations and special events management professional, is the new president of the St. Louis Press Club. A longtime Press Club board member and officer, she is a past recipient of Press Club’s highest honor – The Catfish Award -- for her exceptional contributions to the field of communications and to the Press Club.

In 2004, she founded Face Watchers, a firm which provides customized, strategic
communications for a number of local, regional and national clients. In addition, she writes a no- nonsense business advice column for Town & Style Magazine entitled “The Velvet Hammer.”

Previously, Berkman was the Executive Director of External Affairs for Southwestern Bell Telephone (now AT&T), where she managed government and community relations for Eastern Missouri and represented the company as a lobbyist in St. Louis County, Jefferson City and Washington D.C. During her 30-year telecommunications career, she held numerous positions in the company’s public relations department including media relations, advertising, strategic planning, employee information, community relations, charitable-giving and video production.

Berkman also co-authored a book with her mother, Eleanor, a well-known St. Louis drama coach, on dealing with destructive personalities at work, socially and at home. Their book launch was followed by a national book tour.

She has received a number of community and civic awards including the Missouri Professional Communicator’s “Quest Award” for journalistic ethics and excellence, “Women of Achievement” for Innovative Communications, University of Missouri’s Hellenic Award for Business Leadership & Philanthropy, and has served on a number of local boards over the years some of which include the Clayton Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on its Legislative Committee, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Missouri Baptist Health Foundation, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Women of Achievement.

Berkman earned her Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia.


Press Club’s Zoom Annual Meeting
6:30 p.m. Monday, December 21

St. Louis Press Club Recognizes Exceptional Journalists with Awards

Two of the St. Louis region's exceptional media professionals were honored with awards by the St. Louis Press Club at its annual meeting.

Jessica Z. Brown Billhymer received St. Louis Press Club's highest honor: The Catfish Award, which is awarded to a member who has made exceptional contributions to the field of communications and to the Press Club. Brown is a longtime media communications professional and community volunteer. Her numerous achievements include: President and founder of Gateway Media Literacy Partners, Inc.; Officer, Digital International Media Literacy Education, Inc.; full adjunct professor in the School of Communications at Webster University, and; an active supporter of the Gateway Journalism Review. She is an active and staunch promoter of sustained media literacy education for greater participatory civic education and agency among primary and secondary education students.


Photo by Craig Currie

Jasmine Huda received the Press Club's "President's Above-and-Beyond" award, which is given to an individual or organization that has gone above-and-beyond to provide a service or support for the St. Louis Press Club. Huda has served as Mistress of Ceremonies for the Club's annual Beauty Buzz scholarship fundraising event at Neiman Marcus for the last four years -- an event that draws more than 150 guests each year. She is a popular St. Louis television news anchor and reporter at KTVI, Channel 2, and a former member of the St. Louis Press Club's Board of Directors.

Board of Director slate for 2021-23 term: Ellen Futterman, Richard Gavatin, Kent Martin, Kedra Tolson, Karyn Williams


Press Club Welcomes Sarah Thompson to Board of Directors

Sarah Thompson is a PR, marketing and communications specialist, working for more than 16 years in the St. Louis market with a client portfolio of local nonprofit organizations and businesses in the areas of arts, culture, lifestyle, education, and community services. She creates, manages and executes her clients’ public relations, marketing, communications, social media and media content production needs. With some longstanding clients, Sarah is contracted as the client’s director of communications and director of marketing and public relations. For a list of present and past clients, please visit https:// www.sarahthompsonproductions.com.

Prior to starting Sarah Thompson, LLC in 2009, Sarah was an account supervisor at the PR and brand reputation management firm Twist, LLC, where she worked closely with a wide range of clients, managing their accounts and executing each client’s public relations, integrated marketing initiatives, advertising, and select events.

Sarah maintains positive, ongoing working relationships with local media and consistently secures prominent and ongoing coverage with print, TV, online and radio outlets in the St. Louis market. Sarah has also received national coverage for her clients with the Associated Press, NPR, Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit, Food Arts, Today MSNBC, ARTnews, Ebony, Dance Magazine and The New York Times.

In addition to running her PR, marketing, and production business, Sarah Thompson is a five-time Emmy® Award nominee and three-time Emmy® Award-winning producer, receiving an Emmy Award for two arts/entertainment stories at HEC-TV as well as a commercial campaign, “Dance - The Most Beautiful Sport in the WorldTM” for her client Dance St. Louis. Sarah is the host and producer of STL TV’s 30-minute program “City Corner,” which also airs on ABC30. For the past 12 years, she has served as the weekly on-air events contributor on KMOV’s “News 4 Great Day" and weekly host of STL TV’s “STL Live.” In 2020, she received STL TV’s Jewel Award for “Best Host.” Other media work includes segment producer at HEC-TV, on- air host at Charter Communications and community contributor for Nine Network’s “Stay Tuned.” Sarah also produces independent TV/video projects for her clients, including institutional videos, web and social media videos and PSAs. She is also contracted by production companies for both on-air work and writing/producing.


Sarah Thompson

Sarah served on the board of commissioners for the Central West End South Special Business District from 2009-2013. From 2007-2011 she served on the board of directors at Independence Center – a nonprofit organization that supports adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses. She created, produced and chaired Summer Fusion — Independence Center’s first major Young Friends’ fundraising event — for three consecutive years. She also served on the marketing committee for Circus Flora during the 2015 season.

A native of St. Louis, Sarah returned to her hometown after living in England, where she worked at the BBC and completed a master’s degree in History, Film, and Television at The University of Birmingham (United Kingdom). She holds an undergraduate degree with highest honors from Stanford University. She is a graduate of Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS)

 

 

 

 


Press Club Welcomes Peggy Barnhart and Joseph Martineau to Board of Directors


Peggy Barnhart

Peggy Barnhart, a strategic communications professional, and a current commissioner on St. Louis County Board of Election, she is responsible for election oversight, including County ballot issues, voter registration and education, and election reporting, budget and efficiency.

Previously, Barnhart was director of communications and government relations for the American Red Cross. She also served in communications and community relations for two U.S. Senators: Christopher S. Bond and James M. Talent, and in the office of County Council Representative Edith Cunnane. Other career highlights include working for Peabody Energy as community relations manager. She also has worked as the public relations consultant for the City of Olivette, and as a freelance writer for Sverdrup Corporation and the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Prior to returning to St. Louis, she was a news reporter for the Grand Rapids Press and the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Barnhart is a graduate of Northwestern University, one of the nation’s top-ranked journalism schools, with a Master of Science in Journalism.


Joseph E. Martineau

Joseph E. Martineau focuses his practice on media and communications law as well as intellectual property law, health law litigation, and complex commercial litigation. His clients include local and national major media representatives. Joe has tried cases in both the state and federal courts in Missouri and Illinois, and he has argued cases in the appellate and Supreme Courts in each state.

Joe writes articles and publications in the fields of defamation and invasion of privacy law, the First Amendment, and media law in general. An adjunct professor at Washington University for 20 years, he teaches a course on communications law. Furthermore, Joe frequently appears on panels and conferences dealing with media law issues, and he authored the Missouri Bar CLE Tort Law chapters on Defamation, Invasion of Privacy, and Reputational Damages.

Joe was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2005-2021. Additionally, he was named by Best Lawyers "St. Louis Litigation - First Amendment Lawyer of the Year" for 2012, 2016, 2019, and 2021 and "St. Louis Media Lawyer of the Year" for 2017. He was selected for inclusion in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® 2009-2019, and he is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Joe is the head of the Firm's Media Practice Committee.


Read the 2020 Fall Newsletter Here


St. Louis Press Club's 2020 VIRTUAL Beauty Buzz
Saturday, September 12

View Your Beauty Buzz Photos Here

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Miran Halen Co-Chair Beauty Buzz Film Producer/Director/Editor Photographer/Videographer
Craig Currie STL Editor/Videographer/Photographer

Special thanks to our In-Kind donors, Miran Halen and CraigCurrieSTL



KATHERINE REED joined the University of Missouri—Columbia journalism faculty in 2004. She has done work with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University and the Disaster and Community Crisis Center at MU. She teaches a trauma reporting class for undergraduate and graduate students. She is an editor at ColumbiaMissourian.com where she supervises students covering public safety (crime and the courts) and health care.

When Getting the Story Isn't the Whole Story – Reporting on Trauma

Saturday, February 22
1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Missouri History Museum – AT&T Multipurpose Room (Lower Level) - 5700 Lindell

A free workshop for members of the media, journalism students and others on the impact of violence and trauma, exploring how they report stories and the way they cope with its effects on their own lives.

Speaker: University of Missouri – Columbia Prof. Katherine Reed, who often teaches about journalism and trauma. Among the topics she'll explore

* How do members of the media stay safe when covering conflict?
* What do we know about interviewing those affected by trauma that we didn't know even a few years ago?
* What are some of the best resources media may not know about when it comes to covering violence?
* How can media practice self-care in environments where it's not always stressed as important? What's effective?
* How can media handle anniversary stories without retraumatizing those affected by violence?
* What interesting journalism is being done using the best approaches?

RSVPs appreciated at info@stlpressclub.org, so we have an estimate on how many will attend.


Read the 2020 Winter Newsletter Here


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