2021 RTCA Executive Committee Election Announcement

UPDATE:

Due to the lying-in-state ceremony for former Sen. Bob Dole, the Executive Committee Election and Annual Meeting have been postponed until next week.

Voting: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 and Thursday, December 16, 2021.

Annual Meeting: Friday, December 17 at 12:00pm.

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The Radio-Television Correspondents’ Association annual election will be held on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 and Thursday, December 9, 2021.  

Voting will take place from 9:00am until 5:00pm in the Senate Radio-Television Gallery, S-325, U.S. Capitol.

For this election, there are three vacant positions to be filled on the Executive Committee and three candidates who are running. Gallery members will vote to determine which candidate will serve as Chair beginning in 2023.

The following individuals are running:

Paul Brown, C-SPAN

Paul Brown is a Coordinating Producer for C-SPAN.  He is a member of the editorial management team responsible for the scheduling and daily on-air operations of the C-SPAN, C-SPAN2 and C-SPAN3 television networks.  Brown oversees daily live coverage of the U.S. House and Senate and Congressional hearings. Joining C-SPAN in 1993, Brown has worked on a variety of projects, including the debut of C-SPAN’s morning call-in program, Washington Journal, and the launch of Book TV on C-SPAN2. He was also a producer for several of C-SPAN’s historical series, including the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, American Writers, and the Peabody Award-winning American Presidents series. Brown began his broadcasting career at WWBT-TV in Richmond, Virginia. He was also as a producer for Newschannel 8 in Washington, DC.  As a member of the Executive Committee, Brown would push to increase media access for journalists.  He would also work to increase parking options for broadcast crews on the Hill.

Paul Courson, Capitol Hill Journalist, Sinclair Broadcast Group

I am asking for your vote so I can continue to push for expanded stakeout areas for video newsgathering. We have not yet convinced the Senate Rules Committee to authorize a fulltime location at the Capitol end of the Senate subway, for example, despite successful stakeouts the panel has approved on a case-by-case basis. 

As the current chairman of the membership credentialing subcommittee, I’ve seen several applications that do not neatly fall within the current guidelines we use to approve or reject an outlet’s interest in joining our Gallery. I hope you will elect me so I can work with others on this panel to revise and improve the process, while meeting in a fair manner the basic requirements set by the Senate Rules Committee. I feel it is important that we do not diminish the value of our credentials by having to allow questionable applicants that barely fit the gray areas in our guidelines.

Many of you know me as “Paul in the Hall,” the guy in the black crew vest with the monopod camera. My background as a television reporter, producer and videographer, and previously as a radio anchor and reporter, includes time at CNN, Dow Jones, NBC, AP, UPI, and several radio stations around here. I’ve been credentialed by the broadcast gallery for nearly 40 years.

Thanks for your vote.

Jared Halpern, Fox Radio News

Jared Halpern has been a member of the Radio-Television Correspondents’ Association since 2010, covering Congress for Fox News Radio. For the past two years, Jared has served on the RTCA Executive Committee as Treasurer. 

During the course of his two year term, the Committee has advocated and advanced press freedom and access during an unprecedented time for our organization ensuring a vibrant and active press corps during a global pandemic, two impeachment trials and the attack on January 6th.

Now, our press corps is returning in full and it’s just as important to make sure we can all do our jobs and provide the accountability of Congress our listeners and viewers demand and deserve. That’s why Jared is running for a second term.

The work we do as an organization is as important as ever and the need for a strong, requiring an RTCA executive committee made up of members who can respond quickly to coverage concerns.