Cleveland SPJ 2025 Annual Meeting & Awards Event

On June 24, the Cleveland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) will honor three veteran jourlalists, and award a college scholarship to a future journalist.

Our event will be held at the Parma-Snow branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, 2121 Snow Road. The event is free and open to the public. There is limited seating, so early registration at this site is encouraged. When you register, you have the option of making a donation to the Philip W. Porter Scholarship Fund, which has been helping Greater Cleveland students for 60 years.

Light refreshmehnts will be served. A reception starts at 6:30 p.m. The program runs from 7-8:30 p.m. We MUST vacate the library by 9 p.m.

HONOREES:

Wayne Dawson: the veteran Fox 8 reporter and morning anchor will receive our Lifetime Achievement Award. Dawson has won numerous awards since joining WJW-TV in 1981. He has been speaking often about his battle with oral cancer. This spring, Dawson marks his seventh anniversary as pastor of Grace Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lyndhurst.

Amy Eddings: the local host of NPR's Morning Edition since 2017 on ideastream (WKSU)will be a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Before coming to Cleveland, Eddings was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered in New York. Eddings has a long history in radio news, as well as being a columnist for The Lima News.

Carol Kovach: the former reporter-editor at the weekly Sun Newspapers for 40-years will be the other recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Kovach is best known for her dedication to community journalism, and especially the training she provided to journalists straight out of college. In 2015, Kovach was named editor of Northeast Ohio Catholic magazine, the monthly publication of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

Dawnelle Blake: the graduating senior from Charles Brush High School in Lyndhurst will be recipent of the chapter's Philip W. Porter Scholarship. Blake plans to major in journalism and political science this fall at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. Blake recently attended the Cleveland Media Academy, an eight-week boot camp for high school journalists. She also had several stories published on cleveland.com. Blake will receive $1,000 for each of the four years she attends OU.

In addition, the Cleveland Chapter of SPJ will officially install its new officers for the coming year.

Also check out other Meetups in Parma, Workshops in Parma, Nonprofit events in Parma.