CONTACT:
Lou Harry, SPJ Manager of Publications and Awards, lharry@hq.spj.org
Zoë Berg, SPJ Communications Specialist, 317-920-4785, zberg@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS — The Society of Professional Journalists has selected Dan Kubiske and Ginny McCabe to each receive a Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Award for contributions to their SPJ chapters and regions.

Each year, this award is given to no more than two members — one from a chapter of 75 or more members and one from a chapter of less than 75 members. The award is in honor of Howard Dubin, longtime member of SPJ’s Chicago Headline Club. Dubin not only contributes time and money to the Society, but also remains dedicated to service at the chapter level and as treasurer of the SPJ Foundation Board of Directors.

Kubiske is treasurer of the Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter and co-chair of the International Community. He has been an SPJ stalwart for more than thirty years. He is a past president and vice president of the D.C. Pro Chapter and, when he taught journalism at George Mason University, he organized an SPJ student chapter.

For the International Community, Kubiske has lined up numerous globe-spanning live discussions, focused on threats to journalists in Latin America, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and other places; press freedom in Africa, Turkey, the Philippines and elsewhere; and on the difficulties involved in covering the struggles of international refugees.

“Dan has made these contributions to SPJ while spending many years living and working overseas in Mexico, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dominican Republic, Brazil and Honduras,” said Stephenie Overman, Region 2 Coordinator, Denise Dunbar, D.C. Pro Chapter acting president, and Elle Toussi, SPJ International Community co-chair. “He has worked as a freelance journalist around the globe. And even when abroad, Dan always found ways to contribute to SPJ back home.”

McCabe is serving her third term as the president of the Greater Cincinnati Pro Chapter and her second term as the Region 4 coordinator. McCabe became a Cincinnati Chapter board member in 2010, serving as the secretary for five years before stepping into the presidency. She is also on the Freelance Community board, where she has served as its secretary, and has served on various SPJ national committees.

Under McCabe’s leadership, the Cincinnati Chapter has expanded board leadership membership to include more broadcast and multimedia journalists and continues to maintain a healthy fiscal management policy. She has also helped cement a partnership between the chapter and the Greater Cincinnati Association of Black Journalists and plan the SPJ Regions 4-5 conference.

“When I think of Cincinnati SPJ, I think of Ginny McCabe. Her dedication both to our craft and to this chapter has been admirable long before she became president,” said Lisa Murtha, freelance journalist and Greater Cincinnati Pro Chapter member. “Always with a smile, she is happy to help anyone who needs guidance and connect greater Cincinnati journalists to one another. She’s a kind and welcoming leader for our chapter and does a great job embracing journalists from every kind of media and making us all feel like we belong.”

Kubiske and McCabe will be honored during the President's Awards Banquet at the SPJ23 Journalism Convention in Las Vegas, Sept. 30.

SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to informing citizens; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. Support excellent journalism and fight for your right to know. Become a member, give to the Legal Defense Fund or give to the SPJ Foundation.

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