FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
9/7/2014

Contact:
Abbi Martzall, SPJ Awards Coordinator, 317-920-4791, amartzall@spj.org
Taylor Carlier, SPJ Communications Coordinator, 317-920-4785, tcarlier@spj.org

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Andy Schotz, managing editor of The Gazette and Region 2 Director of the Society of Professional Journalists, has been named the 2014 Regional Director of the Year.

The award was announced at the SPJ President’s Installation Banquet at Excellence in Journalism 2014 in Nashville, Tenn. The award honors a regional director who serves and contributes to his or her region in the most outstanding fashion during the previous year and is based primarily on nominations and letters of recommendation.

Nominated by SPJ President Dana Neuts and President-elect Paul Fletcher, Schotz received this honor after just one year of his current term. He was chosen because of his work of improving communications for his region, co-serving as a facilitator for the Richmond Scripps conference while sitting on the Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter Board, pushing the national board to be transparent and future-minded, and being a part of the SPJ name change task force.

“Andy is always available when called upon, but he is also proactive and seeks new ways to support the organization, while also questioning the way we do things,” Neuts and Fletcher wrote in their nomination letter.

Schotz has been a member of SPJ since 2004 and started his first national position with the organization in 2008 when he became the Ethics Committee Chairman; a position he held until 2011. Among organizing and chairing other chapter-level programs, Schotz was also the Washington, D.C. Pro Chapter’s president during the same time period.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please visit spj.org.

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