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Today: Feb 18, 2025

AP’s Balsamo elected 118th president of the National Press Club

by
January 23, 2025

Mike Balsamo, national law enforcement editor for The Associated Press, was elected on Dec. 6 as the 118th president of the National Press Club.

Balsamo ran unopposed and received 238 votes.

He vowed to continue fighting to free Austin Tice, a freelance journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012. He said the Club owes it to Tice, his family and journalism principles to continuing fighting until Tice is free.

“We are not just journalists and communicators, we are defenders of democracy,” Balsamo said. “We are protectors of truth. And this Club…is our sanctuary and our sword.”

In other results, Alisa Parenti of Bloomberg News, who ran unopposed, was elected vice president with 238 votes. Poonam Sharma of Global Strat View, who also ran unopposed, was elected treasurer with 229 votes.

Mark Schoeff Jr. of CQ Roll Call defeated Sarah Clune Hartman of the PBS NewsHour, 127-117, to become the Club’s secretary. Steve Reilly of CBS News, who ran unopposed, was elected to be the next membership secretary with 240 votes.

Tara Copp of the AP and Herb Jackson of Bloomberg Industry Group were elected to three-year journalist seats o the Board of Governors.  Copp received 217 votes while Jackson received 178. Steven Herman of Voice of America defeated Sarakshi Rai of The Hill, 147-96, for the one-year unexpired journalist governor position.

Maria Rodriguez of Vanguard Communications defeated Erin Geraghty of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges for a three-year communicator seat on the Board. Rodriguez received 91 votes to Geraghty’s 50.

Balsamo said his term will focus on expanding press freedom work and building out club infrastructure and skills development for journalists. He said the Club has an opportunity with its new Press Freedom Center to be successful in areas other press freedom organizations have failed, especially with exiled journalists and reporters detained outside the U.S.

The Club will install additional security improvements, he said, and will look at improving the quality of headliners speakers who come to the Club. Balsamo sais he will discuss creating more vibrant and engaging events for young members who have had their membership grow recently.

Balsamo said the Club is talking with its Journalism Institute about another career day. He also he was talking with the institute about how journalists can protect themselves against threats.

“The key here is everyone is working together,” Balsamo said. “The Club, the center and the institute are really aligned on the strategic mission of trying to make things better for our members and journalists.”

SAP

South Asia Perspectives is a quarterly opinion based magazine, which offers a print and electronic platform for scholarly commentaries, interviews, book reviews, discussions and debates on the society, politics, democracy and human rights, economy, international relations of the South Asia and the region. The interdisciplinary magazine aims to inform general readers, policy makers and analysts on contemporary and emerging issues and policy challenges encompassing countries in the region. It also captures different voices of South Asian diaspora community living in the United States and beyond.