Speaker Biographies
ED ADAMS
Edward Adams joined the ABA Journal as editor and publisher in 2006. He had served as public information officer for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and was a reporter and editor for the New York Law Journal for more than a dozen years. Ed also worked for the New York Post, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, the National Law Journal, American Lawyer, the
Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He received his bachelor of philosophy from Miami University of Ohio and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.
HUGO BALTA
Hugo Balta is the Vice President of News & News Director at WNJU Telemundo 47, the NBC
Universal owned and operated station serving the New York metropolitan area. Under Mr. Balta’s tutelage Telemundo 47 has championed informative, educational segments as well as advocacy journalism, including the interactive segments “Sus Derechos” (Your Rights), “Inmigracion Ahora” (Immigration Now) and “El 47 Te Ayuda” (47 Helps You). Mr. Balta’s news team is also credited with leading the current change in the media industry towards producing content on multiple platforms such as “cyber reports” and “web chats” with experts on Telemundo47.com.
JERRY CEPPOS
Jerry Ceppos is the dean of the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism and Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, having been appointed to the position in December 2007. Before taking early retirement in 2005, he was vice president for news at Knight Ridder the country’s second largest newspaper company, with 32 daily newspapers. He oversaw news coverage, set quality and ethical standards, identified and recruited top editors, diversified newsrooms. Ceppos was directly responsible for the company’s Washington Bureau, foreign bureaus and news service with hundreds of clients worldwide.
ROBERT COX
Robert Cox is the Founder and President of the Media Bloggers Association, the largest
association of bloggers and citizen journalists in the world. Cox, gained notoriety as a blogger in 2004 when the New York Times sought to shut down his blog, The National Debate, over his parody of The Times’ columnist correction policy. In what was one of the earliest “free speech” cases involving a blog, Cox prevailed and applied his experience to what later became the Media Bloggers Association. Cox packaged blogger coverage of the Libby Trial for the Associated Press which distributed MBA member content to over 750 news web sites across the United States. Cox put together similar content packages for PBS for two presidential debates. Cox currently oversees The Ruckus, a group blog of more than three dozen MBA members produced in partnership with Washington Post Newsweek Interactive and published on
Newsweek.com.
SUSAN CRISS
Judge Susan Criss was elected to the 212th District Court of Galveston County, Texas in 1998. The 212th District Court is a trial court that handles both felony criminal and civil cases. Judge Criss served as the Director for District 11 for NAWJ covering Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. She is the Project Director of the Color of Justice Video Project for Texas. Judge Criss produced a video created featuring Texas minority judges, lawyers, and law students who encourage minority children to pursue careers in the law and the judiciary. She has also participated on the NAWJ Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Sexual Orientation Discrimination. Judge Criss joined the National Association of Women Judges in 2001. Judge Criss served as the chairperson of the Gulf Coast MHMR Task Force on Jail Diversion for the Mentally Ill. Shortly after coming on the bench Judge Criss set up the first court web site in Galveston County at www.co.galveston.tx.us/judgecriss. The web site includes a section called “Court Class for Kids”.
LUCY DALGLISH
Ms. Dalglish is the Executive Director of the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press. Previously she worked as a reporter and editor for 13 years at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and as a trial lawyer for five years, practicing media law at Dorsey and Whitney in Minneapolis. She is a regular teacher for CLE seminars in media and communications law, journalism and other professional programs for various schools and organizations. She is a recipient of the Wells Memorial Key from the Society of Professional Journalists and was named to the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame in 1996. She currently serves as Publisher of The News Media and the Law. Dalglish has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Dakota, a masters of studies in law degree from Yale Law School and a Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University Law School.
WILLIAM F. DRESSEL
Judge William F. Dressel has been the president of The National Judicial College (NJC) since 2000. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa and his Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Law School. From 1966-1978 he was in private practice in both Denver, and Fort Collins, Colorado specializing in trial practice. In July 1978 he was appointed judge to the 8th Judicial District, state of Colorado and retained in the 1980, 1986, 1992, and 1998 general elections. He served as a member of the faculty of The National Judicial College from 1989-1993 and in June 1993 was appointed to its Board of Trustees where he served as vice-chair from 1999-2000. He was the 1998 recipient of the Justice Management Institute’s Ernest C. Friesen Award of Excellence presented in recognition of his vision, leadership, and sustained commitment to the achievement of excellence in the administration of justice.
CATHLEEN FLAHARDY
Cathleen Flahardy has been an active writer and journalist for nearly a decade. She started her career with Seattle magazine as an editorial assistant, then brought her talents to Chicago as the associate editor of American Nurseryman magazine. In 2003, she joined the editorial team at Corporate Legal Times, now InsideCounsel, and climbed the ranks to senior editor. In 2005, she took a two-year hiatus from journalism to gain experience in corporate America while obtaining an MBA from Loyola University Chicago. In February 2008, Cathleen rejoined InsideCounsel as editor.
JUSTICE JAMES E. GRAVES, JR.
James E. Graves, Jr. serves on the Mississippi Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court in 2001 and won election to the Court in 2004. Before serving on the Supreme Court, Justice Graves served as a Circuit Court Judge for 10 years. As a Circuit Judge, Graves established the first website for a Mississippi trial court, and implemented electronic filing of court documents. He implemented the first state-of-the-art high-tech courtroom in Mississippi. For his pioneering efforts in technology, he received the Bar Association’s innovation award. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Millsaps College; law degree from Syracuse University; and Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
DAVID HAZINSKI
David Hazinski is an Associate Professor of Telecommunications and Head of Broadcast News at The University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor. He is also a principal in Intelligent Media Consultants, LLC, an international media design, training and consulting company. He was the originating co-host, wrote and served as technology advisor of World Business Review with Caspar Weinberger, an internationally syndicated, paid programming television show dealing with advanced technology and business during the late 1990’s. He has also covered many major national and international events as a working broadcast journalist.
GARY A. HENGSTLER
Gary A. Hengstler has been the director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for the Courts and Media at The National Judicial College since August 2000. Previously he was the Associate Executive Director/Editor and Publisher at the ABA Journal from 1989-August 2000 and News Editor at the ABA Journal from 1986-1989. Mr. Hengstler also practiced law from 1983-1985, while also serving as News Editor of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. He won several writing awards, including Best News Series from the American Society of Business Press Editors for “Bosnia: Out of the Rubble” (1997), based on his travels to Sarajevo during the final stages of the Bosnian-Serb war. He interviewed Yassir Arafat after the signing of the peace accord and he also was granted the last interview with Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall..
MARK HINUEBER
Mark A. Hinueber is Vice President and General Counsel of Stephens Media Group, which publishes daily and weekly newspapers from North Carolina to Hawaii, including the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mr. Hinueber is a graduate of Blackburn College, Carlinville, Illinois and the John Marshall Law School, Chicago, and is admitted to the bar in Illinois, California, Arkansas and Nevada. He was previously Legal Counsel for Scripps League Newspapers, now a part of Lee Newspapers. Mr. Hinueber’s newspaper background includes work on his family’s weekly newspaper in Northern Illinois, as well as a general assignment and sports reporter for a daily newspaper, assistant news director of a radio station and editor stints at his high school and college newspapers. Mr. Hinueber was a chapter author for the Media Law Resource Center’s “Fifty State Survey of Media, Libel and Privacy Laws” in both California and Arkansas and is currently the chapter author for Nevada.
MARILYN HUFF
Marilyn L. Huff was appointed in 1991 as a federal district judge for the Southern District of California and was Chief Judge of that court from 1998 to 2005. She is the Chairperson of the Ninth Circuit’s Public Information and Community Outreach Committee. She is a member of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure and Liaison to the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules for the United States Judicial Conference. She is also on the Executive Boards of the Federal Judges Association and the Louis Welsh Chapter of the American Inns of Court.
PAM JOHNSON
Pam Johnson was a key member of the leadership team throughout the 1990s at The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette that brought innovation through culture change, leading-edge technology, and journalistic methods that emphasized community knowledge and connections. Zoning and niche products were key strategies in the competitive market. She led a study of young readers and worked with early convergence planning. In October, 2004, Johnson was named the first executive director of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, Missouri School of Journalism, in November 2004. She shared in the staff Pulitzer that honored The Star for its coverage of the Hyatt Skywalk collapse in 1981.
HON. RICHARD JONES
Judge Jones is currently serving as a United States District Court Judge of the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Before his appointment to the federal bench, he had been a Superior Court judge for King County Superior Court since 1994. Previously, he practiced law for 19 years specializing in criminal law and commercial litigation. He served as a Deputy King County Prosecutor; Staff Counsel to the Port of Seattle; Associate at Bogle & Gates; and as an Assistant United States Attorney. Judge Jones obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Seattle University and his J.D. degree from the University of Washington. He has lectured extensively in legal education programs for the U.S. Attorney General Advocacy Institute in Washington, D.C.; Washington State Bar Association; King County Bar Association; Washington State Trial Lawyers Association; Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association , University of Washington; and served as the Dean for the Washington Judicial College. In May, 2008 he was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters Honorary Degree from St. Martin’s University. Judge Jones is a National Judicial College Alumnus and joined the NJC faculty in 2000.
HON. DAVID KRASHNA
Judge David Krashna was elected to the Superior Court, County of Alameda, California in November 2000. He previously served as a Court Commissioner of that court from 1992 to his election. He practiced law for 17 years as a Legal Services Attorney and private attorney specializing in criminal defense, personal injury and civil rights. He earned his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame - where he was elected the 1st (and still only) African-American Student Body President - and his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. Judge Krashna teaches various courses at the California Center for Judicial Education and Research, B.E. Witkin Judicial College of California, the National Judicial College, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at John F. Kennedy University School of Law, Pleasant Hill, CA.
DONICA MENSING
Dr. Donica Mensing is an associate professor at the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada-Reno. She has a Ph. D. in political science and an M.A. in journalism from the University of Nevada-Reno. She also has an M.A. in science, technology and public policy from George Washington University and earned her BA in political economy at the University of California Berkley.
JUDY NADLER
Former Santa Clara Mayor Judy Nadler is a Center senior fellow, with responsibility for programs in government ethics and ethical leadership. She directs “Ethics and the Public’s Business” a program for newly elected officials and “Ethics and Leadership Camp for Public Officials” a summer workshop for mayors, council members, city managers, ethics commissioners and others. She is also an adjunct faculty member in Santa Clara University’s Political Science department.As mayor, Nadler worked with the Ethics Center to develop a Code of Ethics and Values for Santa Clara. In 2002, the city received the Helen Putnam Award from the League of California Cities for its program, “Infusing Political Campaigns with Community Ethics and Values.”
MITCH RATCLIFFE
Mitch Ratcliffe is a veteran technology journalist, media executive and serial entrepreneur. He cofounded BuzzLogic, was on the founding executive team at ON24, and was SoftBank’s board member at Electric Classifieds Inc. and Match.com from 1996 to 1998. His ZD Net blog,Rational Rants, has been running for several years, and he was a reporter, editor, editor-in-chief and columnist for various ZD and Seybold publications during the 1990s.
ROBERT ROPER
Robert Roper has been the Chief Information Officer for the Colorado Judicial Branch since 1992. He has also been a member of the Colorado CJIS Task Force since its beginning in 1995. As the CIO, Dr. Roper has been accountable for six major automation projects in Colorado during the last ten years: a Statewide court, probation and financial case management system; Statewide Judicial Branch participation in the State’s CJIS; a Statewide electronic filing system for civil, domestic relations, water and probate cases in Colorado’s general and limited jurisdiction courts in cooperation with LEXIS/NEXIS; a Statewide jury management system; a Statewide system for public access to court information; and browser enabling Colorado’s Statewide court/probation case management information system.
JOSHUA ROSS
Josh has spent over 10 years consulting on digital business strategy. His focus over the last four years has been on applying Web 2.0 principles to deliver competitive advantage (from new business model development to customer engagement and communication strategies). Mr. Ross has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University and has spoken at conferences related to technology and digital strategy around the world. Past clients include Washington Mutual, Accenture, Best Buy, Autodesk, and Polycom. Joshua holds a degree with honors in Chinese Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
HON. LARRY SAGE
Senior Judge Larry Sage pursued a complete and generous education with a Baccalaureate from the University of California (Berkeley, ‘68); a Juris Doctor from UC Hastings College of Law; graduating from the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College and a Masters of Judicial Studies (Honors) jointly issued by the National Judicial College and the University of Nevada. He attended the FBI National Law Institute, the National Interagency Counterdrug Institute and courses of the Army War College. Judge Sage spent ten years in private law practice, ten years in public practice and criminal prosecution and served twelve years as Municipal Judge before his Supreme Court commissioning as Senior Judge.
JOSEPH SAWYER
Mr. Joseph R. Sawyer has been a member of The National Judicial College’s staff since 1986 and joined its faculty in 2000. He has been the Distance Learning and Technology Manager since 1998 and as such provides instruction to the College faculty on the use of teaching and classroom technologies. He also educates the faculty on the best methods of educating judges in a distance-learning environment in both synchronous and asynchronous formats. He instructs participants on courtroom technology, evidence presentation systems, litigation support software, and technology infrastructure in courtroom design. He is a member of the National Association of State Judicial Educators and serves on the association’s technology and bias committees.
PETER SCHEER
Since June 2004 Scheer has been Executive Director of the California First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit public interest organization committed to free speech and open-government rights. A lawyer and journalist, Scheer was editor and publisher of The Recorder, a daily legal newspaper in San Francisco, and publisher of Legal Times, a Washington, D.C.-based weekly on law and lobbying. Scheer practiced appellate law in Washington, DC, both in the U.S. Justice Department and in private practice. A partner in the Washington, DC firm of Onek, Klein & Farr, and general counsel to the National Security Archive, Scheer has argued appellate cases in most of the federal courts of appeal and in the U.S. Supreme Court.
PETER SHAPLEN
Peter Shaplen, a national award-winning journalist, is the CEO of Peter Shaplen Productions, the highly successful media training ands consulting firm. He recently served as the pool producer – point person for the media to the courts, law enforcement and county government – for both the Scott Peterson double murder and the Michael Jackson molestation trials. This involved 860 credentialed journalists at Peterson and 2,300 media from 35 countries who covered Jackson. Before starting his company, Mr. Shaplen led national news organizations while producing programs that appeared on network news and cable stations, in corporate boardrooms, and in multimedia presentations including for the Broadway stage.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: PAUL ANGER
Paul Anger, 59, was named Vice President and Editor of the Detroit Free Press in August 2005. He supervises 260 journalists, including reporters, photographers, videographers, artists, editors and Web producers who craft news coverage, multi-media content and commentary for the Free Press and Freep.com.
Under his leadership, the newspaper has enhanced its commitment to watchdog and investigative journalism, launched new products, become an industry leader in video production and video quality and shown record growth on Freep.com.
In the last two years, the Free Press and Freep.com have won three national Emmy awards from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for video presentation – in competition with PBS Frontline, National Geographic and Newsweek as well as the New York Times and Washington Post, among others across the country. The Free Press, which presented its first video in December 2005, has won more national Emmys than any newspaper-based Web site.
Freep.com traffic, including its new Metromix and Momslikeme sites, has soared to as many as 3.8 million page views in a single day and more than 50 million in a single month under Anger’s watch. And Free Press cartoonist Mike Thompson has twice been a Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial cartoons, for his work in 2005 and 2006.
Anger serves on the Detroit Media Partnership executive committee and is a board member of Detroit’s Metropolitan Affairs Coalition. He has twice served as a Pulitzer Prize judge at Columbia University and has been recognized four times with the Gannett Company’s President’s Ring, awarded annually to the top 10 editors across the company’s 80-plus newspapers.
Before coming to Detroit, Anger was Vice President and Editor of the Des Moines Register since January 2002. The Register was a Pulitzer finalist in investigative reporting during his tenure there.
Anger has more than 40 years’ experience as a reporter, editor and publisher. He worked for the Miami Herald for 29 years, including stints as Sports Editor, Broward County Editor and Broward Publisher of the Herald. After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, he worked as a news editor for the Knight Ridder News Service in Washington, D.C., editing national and international coverage that included the war on terrorism and domestic security issues.
Anger grew up in Oshkosh, Wis. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and did news and sports reporting for The Paper for Central Wisconsin, the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern and the Fond du Lac Reporter before taking a job in the Miami Herald sports department in 1972.
He became executive sports editor of the Herald in 1977, and in 1994 Anger served as national president of the Associated Press Sports Editors Association, which represents more than 400 newspapers across North America.
In 1995 he became editor of the Broward Herald, then publisher, and served in several community leadership roles such as Broward County Urban League chairman and vice chairman of the Broward County Library Foundation.