Women in the Media

Keynote speaker:

Ibby Caputo is a journalist based in the Ozark Mountains covering Arkansas’ 91st General Assembly for the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network. She was a 2014-2015 MIT-Knight Science Journalism Fellow. Ibby covered health care, transportation, and breaking news as a reporter for WGBH’s Boston Public Radio and WGBH TV. Her work has aired on The World, NPR News, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace Morning Report, Marketplace Tech, Scene on Radio, Radiotonic, and the BBC’s Short Cuts. Her journalism, essays and photography have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Cape Cod Times, The Times-Picayune, theAtlantic.com, and elsewhere. Ibby received an award for hard news and was part of the team that won an award for investigative reporting, both from The Associated Press. She is an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Moderator:

Mariel Ruiz, THV11 meteorologist, will moderate the panel. Mariel joined THV11’s weather team in June 2016. She grew up in nearby North Texas and previously worked in West Texas forecasting the wild weather. Mariel received her Bachelors of Science in Atmospheric Sciences from Texas A&M University. (http://www.thv11.com/about-us/team-bios/mariel-ruiz/296329534)

Panelists:
Gwen Moritz, editor of Arkansas Business. “Gwen Crownover Moritz was born in Conway, reared in North Little Rock and graduated from Harding University at Searcy. She worked at the Pine Bluff Commercial, the Arkansas Gazette and the Nashville (Tenn.) Business Journal, with stints at the Tennessee Health Care Association and the Nashville Bar Association thrown in. Moritz has been editor of Arkansas Business since 1999.” (arkansasbusiness.com/staff/gwen-moritz)

Raven Richard, weather anchor and reporter at THV11. “She joined the THV11 team in May 2016 as a News and Weather Anchor after spending two years in Kennewick, WA as a reporter, anchor, and weather anchor. She is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans with a degree in Mass Communication and a minor in Political Science.” (thv11.com/about-us/team-bios/raven-richard/245118382)

Karen Segrave, Little Rock-based photographer and owner of KES Photo. Karen has more than 20 years of experience as a professional photographer. In 1996, she moved to Arkansas and began working for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette until 2013. Karen said her photo projects have taken her across the street and around the globe.(www.kesphoto.com)

Jill Bleed, breaking news staffer at The Associated Press in Little Rock. A native of Iowa, Jill has lived in Arkansas since 2003, when she moved to Little Rock to work at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She joined the AP in 2006 and now handles top breaking stories in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. She also serves on the executive committee of the News Media Guild, the union representing workers at AP, UPI, The Guardian US and the Spanish news agency EFE. She holds a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder, journalist and former state politcian. “Charlotte co-owned the Dumas Clarion newspaper in Dumas (Desha County) with her husband for more than four decades and served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for fourteen years. She was also president of several associations for professional journalists, including the Arkansas Press Women, the Arkansas Press Association, the National Federation of Press Women, and the National Newspaper Association.” (encyclopediaofarkansas.net)