Pitt Department of English and The Pitt News To Host Panel Discussion, "How to Get an Internship," Oct. 18

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh's Department of English and The Pitt News will host a panel discussion with various communications professionals, titled "How to Get an Internship in the Media-PR World: Meet the Professionals," from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 18, Kurtzman Room, William Pitt Union, 3959 Fifth Ave., Oakland. This event is free and open to the public.

In addition to the panel discussion, the annual Al McDowell Memorial Scholarship, named in memory of the television newsman, will be presented to a Pitt undergraduate student in the English department's nonfiction writing program.

Panelists are Ken Rice, KDKA-TV news anchor; Margaret Sullivan, editor of The Buffalo News; Betsy Benson, editor of Pittsburgh Magazine; Sally Quinn, deputy managing editor for features for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; Dale Chandler, Jack Horner Communications' chief operating officer; and Frank Gottlieb, KQV-AM news director. David Shribman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette executive editor, will moderate the discussion.

Part of the KDKA-TV news team since 1994, Rice is a national award-winning journalist and an active member of the Pittsburgh community. Prior to joining KDKA, Rice anchored for WTAE-TV and won the top 1990 Associated Press award for his investigative piece, titled "Harrisburg Paydirt." Rice often speaks at local schools and organizations and has taught a television news reporting course at Point Park University.

Sullivan became in 1999 the first female editor of The Buffalo News; in 2001, she was appointed vice president of the newspaper. A four-time Pulitzer Prize juror, Sullivan has written for The American Editor, Columbia Journalism Review, Washington Post, and Washington Monthly Magazine.

Vice president and editor-in-chief of Pittsburgh Magazine, Benson also is a member of the senior management staff of WQED, which she joined in 2003 following a 16-year career at the Pittsburgh Business Times. Benson has won numerous awards for her editing and writing, including Golden Quills and Society of Professional Journalists honors. She serves on The Pitt News advisory board, which oversees the student-run newspaper.

Quinn is a Pitt graduate with a double major in English writing and history. She has worked at Pittsburgh Magazine, the North Hills News Record, and the Valley News Dispatch. An award-winning writer, Quinn earned three Golden Quill awards and three Ray Sprigle Memorial awards for enterprise/investigative work. She currently teaches a feature writing class at Pitt.

A 12-year veteran at the award-winning public relations and marketing communications firm Jack Horner Communications Inc., Chandler sits on the board of directors for the Business Marketing Association and the Center for Creative Play as well as on committees for the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Three Rivers Advertising Specialty Association.

While attending Duquesne University, Gottlieb worked at WAMO-AM-FM and was WTAE-TV's first intern. Following graduation, Gottlieb served as a broadcast specialist with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He has worked at KQV for 21 years, serving as the news director for the past decade.

For more information, contact Writing Internship Coordinator Caren Marcus at 412-624-1737 or caren@pitt.edu.

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10/11/06/scl