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Digital Innovator Selected for Chairman’s Citation

Buttry Cited for Pressing Journalists to Re-Think Their Work

Steve Buttry, a journalist renowned for his leadership in digital innovation, will receive the National Press Foundation’s 2016 Chairman’s Citation.

The veteran journalist, now an educator at Louisiana State University, will receive the award at NPF’s annual journalism awards dinner on Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington, D.C., along with other award winners. Learn more about the NPF dinner and awards here.

“Steve Buttry embodies NPF’s mission of ‘making good journalists better,’ ” said Kevin M. Goldberg, a media lawyer who chairs the NPF Board of Directors. “Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has continually asked journalists to rethink how they do their jobs. In particular, his challenge to ‘listen more, talk less’ has taken on new importance as we emerge from the 2016 elections and re-evaluate what journalism is and what it must become.”

steve_buttryThe Chairman’s Citation, created in 1996, confers recognition on individuals whose accomplishments fall outside the traditional categories of excellence. The list of past winners is here.

Buttry said, “I am delighted with this honor. The National Press Foundation is an important advocate for the First Amendment, and I am pleased to have my work recognized by such an important organization. Any recognition for my career actually honors the contributions of hundreds of journalists who have taught and helped me learn and grow as a journalist. I stand on the shoulders of many editors and reporters who helped a young journalist get started in this business and helped an aging journalist refresh and rejuvenate my career.”

Buttry is director of student media at the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU. He was digital transformation editor at Digital First Media, director of community engagement at TBD.com and director of tailored programs at the American Press Institute. He has been an editor, reporter and writing coach at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Omaha World-Herald in Nebraska; The Des Moines Register in Iowa; Minot Daily News in North Dakota; The Kansas City Star and Times in Missouri; and the Evening Sentinel in Shenandoah, Iowa.

Buttry is the 2016 winner of the Rich Jaroslovsky Founder Award from the Online News Association for his contributions to digital journalism. He was named Editor of the Year in 2010 by Editor & Publisher magazine for his work as editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette and won the 2014 Glamann Award from the American Copy Editors Society for his contributions to editing.

His blog, The Buttry Diary, has been named one of the 10 best blogs on the future of the news business, and he has been honored by the Poynter Institute and Quill magazine for his leadership in social media.

The National Press Foundation is an independent nonprofit that is run by and for journalists. NPF’s sole mission is to educate practicing journalists about today’s most pressing issues and critical toolbox training.

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