Concordia University, Nebraska to host Nebraska Collegiate Media Association Conference

The Nebraska Collegiate Media Association (NCMA) Spring Conference and Golden Leaf Award Ceremony will take place Saturday, April 8, 2017, at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska.

Students majoring in broadcasting, journalism and mass media from small colleges around the state will be honored for their work and dedication. The Nebraska Collegiate Media Association sponsors the Golden Leaf awards every spring for excellence in news media.

Conference attendees will also have the opportunity to attend sessions with world-class journalists, news reporters and radio anchors including Dee Ann Divis, Mark Lagerkvist, Tom Foty and Ellen Beck.

Conference speakers include:

Dee Ann Divis

Dee Ann Divis grew up on a farm near Columbus and is one of the nation’s most knowledgeable journalists in the coverage of satellite technology and drones. She was a Knight Science Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. She also is a winner of the Robert D.G. Lewis Watchdog Award from the Washington, D.C., pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Mark Lagerkvist

Mark Lagerkvist went to high school at Concordia in Seward, Nebraska, and has gone on to win more than 60 journalism honors, including three Emmys, as an investigative journalist. He has extensive experience as an investigative reporter for newspapers, television and online news operations, including News 12 on Long Island, New York, WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, CNBC, the Asbury Park Press and New Jersey Watchdog.

Tom Foty

Tom Foty, weekend anchor for CBS Radio. Tom has more than 40 years of experience in covering major news for UPI Radio, NBC Radio, Westwood One, Unistar, WTOP Radio and CBS Radio.

Ellen Beck

Ellen has extensive experience as a newspaper, radio, wire service, online and newsletter journalist, and is an expert on national healthcare policy. She will talk about the challenges of balancing career and family as she successfully has “reinvented herself” half a dozen times.

Tobin Beck (Conference organizer)

Tobin Beck teaches journalism and global issues classes at Concordia. He is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience, including 12 years as a global news service writer-editor-senior manager in Washington, D.C. He has written and edited for newspapers, radio, television, and magazines. He has taught at American University in Washington, D.C., and at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.