From June 7 to June 13, SPJVA will hold an online election to choose officers for the coming year and to fill five seats on the chapter’s board of directors. Here are the nominees, who would take office on July 1.
Officers
President (2026-27): Alix Bryan, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication, where she serves as coordinator of the journalism sequence and as director of the Newsroom at VCU and Capital News Service. Bryan, who spent 15 years as a journalist with WTVR CBS 6 and other news outlets, is currently the SPJVA vice president. She also is SPJ’s coordinator for the mid-Atlantic Region 2.
Vice president (2026-27): Chris Tyree, senior director and co-founder of the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO. He has been a journalist for more than 30 years. His work has been published in hundreds of the world’s leading periodicals and broadcast networks including the BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, NPR and Deutsche Welle. Tyree has served as SPJVA president for the past two years – the maximum allowed under the chapter’s bylaws.
Treasurer (2026-27): Deana Meredith, communications manager for the Virginia Press Association and an award-winning writer and photographer. As SPJVA treasurer since July 1, 2024, Meredith has modernized the chapter’s financial system. A former editor at The Central Virginian, she has served on the SPJVA board since 2022. She is also a member of the National Press Club and Investigative Reporters and Editors.
Secretary (2026-27): Jeff South, associate professor emeritus at VCU, where he taught journalism from 1997 to 2020. Before entering academia, South was a newspaper reporter and editor for more than 20 years in Texas, Arizona and Virginia. In retirement, he continues to freelance and conduct journalism training. He served as SPJVA president from 2019 to 2021 and as chapter secretary since 2024.
Directors
The board includes nine directors serving staggered three-year terms. In this election, we will fill the following positions:
Director 1 (three-year term, expiring June 2029): Paul Fletcher, executive director of the Virginia Bar Association, former SPJ national president and current SPJVA board member. For more than three decades, Fletcher was the publisher and editor in chief of Virginia Lawyers Weekly. He has taught media law and ethics in the graduate program at VCU.
Director 2 (three-year term, expiring June 2029): Laura Thompson, a freelance photojournalist in Richmond. Her work has been published by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, NBC News, The New York Daily News and other news outlets.
Director 5 (three-year term, expiring June 2029): June Nicholson, professor emeritus of journalism at VCU, longtime SPJ leader at the state and national levels, and current SPJVA director. A former reporter in Virginia and North Carolina, she has been inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame and won teaching awards from VCU and national organizations.
Director 8 (unexpired term, expiring June 2028): Joey LoMonaco, managing editor of the Fredericksburg Free Press. He previously worked at The Free Lance-Star, where he won multiple awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors and was named the Virginia Press Association’s Young Journalist of the Year in 2019.
Director 9 (unexpired term, expiring June 2028): Eric Deggans, Knight Professor of Journalism and Media Ethics at Washington and Lee University. He also is a critic-at-large at NPR, a member of the Poynter Institute’s National Advisory Board and chair of the Media Monitoring Committee for the National Association of Black Journalists.
In accordance with our bylaws, the election will be held via an online ballot that we will send to all SPJVA members. (That means everyone who is current on their national and local SPJ dues. You can check your membership status at spj.org.)
The ballots will be sent by email on Sunday, June 7. The deadline to vote will be Saturday, June 13.
If you do not receive an email with the ballot but you believe you are eligible to vote in the election, contact us at virginiaprospj@gmail.com.
The SPJVA Board of Directors also will include the following members who are not up for election:
Director 3 (expiring June 2027): Scott Elmquist, photojournalist for Style Weekly and recipient of the SPJVA’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Director 4 (expiring June 2027): Dina Weinstein, Community Vitality reporter for Henrico Citizen, a former Virginia Humanities fellow and SPJVA president from 2021 to 2023.
Director 6 (expiring June 2027) — Reynolds Hutchins, editor of The Daily Progress in Charlottesville and board member of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government
Director 7 (expiring June 2028): Mason Adams, Roanoke Valley reporter for WVTF/Radio IQ, host of Inside Appalachia on West Virginia Public Broadcasting, and a freelancer covering the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachia and the South.
Student chapter representative: Robin Reed, professor of practice at Virginia Tech’s School of Communication and former anchor and chief meteorologist at WDBJ in Roanoke.
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