Contact:
Heather Porter, Programs Coordinator, (317) 927-8000, ext. 204
Beth King, Communications Manager, (317) 927-8000, ext. 211

INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to honor Claudia Peschiutta with the Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Professional Member Award.

Peschiutta, 33, started her career in print, working for a group of weekly newspapers in the San Gabriel Valley. She went on to Times Community News and the Los Angeles Business Journal. Peschiutta made the switch to broadcast in October 2002, when she joined KFWB-AM (980). She became the West Coast Correspondent for Fox News Radio in June 2005. She moved on to KNX-AM (1070) in October 2006. She won a Golden Mike Award in 2004 for best entertainment reporting.

The Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Professional Member Award is given annually to individual SPJ members who have made significant contributions to their SPJ chapters and regions. Annually, one award may be given to a member from a chapter with 75 or more members, and another award may be given to a member from a chapter with fewer than 75 members. The award is named for Howard S. Dubin, a longtime member of SPJ, who remains active with the organization, its local chapters and the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. The Foundation supports the charitable and educational work of SPJ and other journalism organizations.

Peschiutta joined the board of directors for the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2003 She currently serves as the publicity and events chair. Her responsibilities include promoting the Greater Los Angeles Pro chapter activities and announcements. She has organized numerous mixers, with guests including Robert Scheer, LA Times Editor Jim O'Shea, LA County District Attorney Steve Cooley and LA City Controller Laura Chick. In 2005, she organized a tribute to Stan Chambers, attended by well over 100 people. She also has been actively involved in the chapter’s annual banquet committee, this year serving as co-chair.

“When she first joined the Greater Los Angeles Pro Chapter board of directors, Claudia revived our rather lackluster publicity efforts and brought a fresh energy that revitalized not only the board, but the Greater Los Angeles chapter,” said Roberta Wax, past president and Howard S. Dubin Professional Member Award winner, and fellow board member in her nomination letter. “Claudia is a force of nature, the Greater Los Angeles chapter’s secret weapon. A tireless promoter of SPJ, she is strongly committed to journalism, whether it is planning a chapter meeting, publicizing an SPJ event or cause, gathering fundraising items or working on a news story.”

In addition to generating greater awareness of chapter activities and events, Peschiutta also opened a dialogue between local journalists and city officials.

“Our chapter went through some challenging times after hosting the national convention in 1998, and Claudia’s participation in the past few years has helped us grow from a chapter treading water to a thriving, active one,” wrote Lauren Bartlett, a past Howard S. Dubin Professional Member Award winner and President of SPJ’s Greater Los Angeles Pro chapter in her nomination letter. “She organized a meeting for 10 journalism groups to meet with Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton in the aftermath of the violence at MacArthur Park on May 1.”

Peschiutta will be recognized Saturday, Oct. 7 at a dinner to be hosted at the 2007 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C. at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

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 www.spj.org.

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