New officers, rule changes ... the convention gets a workout.

The Pittsburgh convention wasn't entirely about wrestling through critique sessions, agonizing over the future of the industry, and wolfing down perogies.

As always, it's about business, too. About moving the organization forward with new officers, revised bylaws, and additions to the NCEW's own version of the Hall of Fame, life memberships, as well as bestowing other honorifics.

Each year, the NCEW membership votes in three new board members to two-year terms. We did so in Pittsburgh. Likewise, Executive Committee members elected the previous year move up to new duties. We cemented that deal, too.

(For the uninitiated, the process of succession in the NCEW hierarchy proceeds as follows: We annually elect a secretary; that secretary rises in the ranks to become, in his or her second year in office, treasurer, then vice-president and, ultimately, president. Got it?)

Neil Heinen, editorial director of WISC-TV in Madison, Wisconsin, is the organization's new president. Vanessa Gallman, editorial page editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader, moves from treasurer to vice president. David Holwerk, editorial page editor of the Sacramento Bee, assumes the treasurer's duties. And, as a result of the Pittsburgh election, Tom Waseleski, editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, becomes secretary, putting him in line to become president in 2010. See Charles, Prince of Wales, for lessons in patience, Tom.

Out-going president Jill "J.R" Labbe of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram continues her service on the board as immediate past-president.

The membership also elected three new board members. They are Shelley Epstein, deputy opinion editor for the Journal Star in Peoria, Illinois; Robyn Blumner, columnist and editorial writer for the St. Petersburg Times; and Doug MacEachern, editorial writer and columnist for The Arizona Republic.

The NCEW officers and board went to work at the December 9 board meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, under a set of bylaws that include changes enacted in Pittsburgh.

Briefly, those changes: Officers and board members now assume their duties on the Monday following the election, rather than at the beginning of the calendar year. Also, the immediate past-president is an official voting member of the board. Previously, the IPP has served on the board unofficially.

Finally, NCEW member Tommy Denton proposed one other bylaw change regarding the nomination of officers during the fall board meeting in Pittsburgh. It was approved by membership. As a result of that change, Article IV B of the bylaws now directs the Executive Committee to appoint two members to serve on the Nominating Committee.

More detail regarding the bylaw changes can be found on the ncew.org website in the July newsletter. It can be found under the "past newsletters" link.

The Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship

Pearl Stewart, founder and director of Black College Wire, an online student news service, was presented with the NCEW's 2006 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship during a luncheon at the Sheraton Stations Square Hotel on Friday, September 15.

Each year, the Bingham Fellowship brings to the NCEW convention an outstanding faculty member who has shown great initiative in mentoring minority college students. Stewart's colleague, Jean E. Thompson, who nominated Stewart for the award, said that Stewart earned the accolade by "her tireless efforts on behalf of minority students [that] have produced long-ranging results that will ripple through our industry for years to come."

Continued Thompson: "Almost eight years ago, Ms. Stewart conceived a way to help those African-American students who aspire to be reporters, copy editors, designers, and photographers but who for lack of preparation, finances, or mentors, could not attend the best journalism schools."

In addition to founding the website, Stewart also teaches journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi. She officially founded Black College Wire in 200l, and with grants from the Knight Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, expanded the project to include internships and training programs.

Ida B. Wells Award

Virgil L. Smith, president and publisher of the Citizen-Times in Asheville, North Carolina, is the 2006 recipient of the Ida B. Wells Award.

Presented at a luncheon at the Sheraton Station Square on Friday, September 15, the award is made annually by NCEW and the National Association of Black Journalists to media executives who have demonstrated a commitment to diversifying the nation's newsrooms.

In selecting Smith, the seven-member jury noted the efforts he has made to recruit, retain, and promote women and people of color at his 59,000-circulation daily. Since he became publisher of the paper in 1996, the number of employees of color at the Citizen-Times has more than tripled--growing from fewer than ten to nearly forty, representing close to nineteen percent of the paper's editorial workforce.

The Ida B. Wells Award is named in honor of the distinguished nineteenth-century journalist and publisher who won international acclaim for her fearless crusade against lynching. The award was first bestowed in 1983.

Sue Ryon becomes an NCEW life member

In an emotional capper to the convention at the closing banquet, the Life Membership award this year went to Sue Ryon, for two decades a member of NCEW.

Ryon, formerly of the Journal Sentinel in Milwaukee, boasts a lengthy record of accomplishment within the organization.

She has edited The Masthead, including production of the acclaimed ten-year anthology edition in fall 1998. Ryon climbed the leadership ladder of NCEW, serving as secretary, treasurer, vice president, and, in 1997, president. During that last year she helped produce the dazzling convention in Madison, Wisconsin. She also has served as president of the NCEW Foundation.

Given the painful health problems that Ryon has battled through, the presentation on Saturday, September 16, was especially emotional--and, in the spirit of Ryon herself, wonderfully joyous. The presentation was a great moment not only for Ryon, but for everyone present.

Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing

Karin Klein, an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times, became the 2006 recipient of the Eugene C. Pulliam Award, presented annually by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The Pulliam award takes the form of a $75,000 fellowship that allows the winner to pursue research on the editorial subject of his or her choice.

Klein's project will focus on the first generation of children diagnosed with ADHD as they reach young adulthood.

Klein is the twenty-seventh individual to receive the Pulliam award. She plans to write a series of opinion pieces over the course of the year for the Los Angeles Times' Sunday commentary section and produce a book to be published within the next eighteen months.