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Margaret Low Smith of NPR joins the Reporters Committee’s Steering Committee

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Margaret Low Smith, NPR senior vice president for news, has been elected to the Steering Committee of the Reporters Committee…

Margaret Low Smith, NPR senior vice president for news, has been elected to the Steering Committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

“We enthusiastically welcome Margaret as a new member of our Steering Committee. Her extensive experience as a producer and news executive will be a great help to the Reporters Committee as it takes on new issues and challenges,” said Chairman Tony Mauro, U.S. Supreme Court correspondent for The National Law Journal.

Smith joined NPR in 1982 and rose through numerous senior production and programming roles before being named vice president for programming, a post she held until January 2011 when she was tapped to run the news division. Smith now oversees some 400 journalists in 17 bureaus around the world. Smith is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Peabody Award, an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Silver Baton and the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel.

Smith joins Jane Mayer, staff writer for The New Yorker, and John McKinnon of The Wall Street Journal, who were elected in May, as the newest members of the Steering Committee. Biographies of all Steering Committee members can be found online at https://www.rcfp.org/about-us/steering-committee.

They join Steering Committee members J. Scott Applewhite of The Associated Press; Wolf Blitzer of CNN; David Boardman of The Seattle Times; Chip Bok with Creators Syndicate; Erika Bolstad of McClatchy Newspapers; Michael Duffy of Time magazine; Richard S. Dunham of the Houston Chronicle; Ashlea Ebeling from Forbes Media LLC; Fred Graham, former New York Times and CBS News reporter and a founding member of the Reporters Committee; John C. Henry, formerly with The Associated Press and Houston Chronicle; Nat Hentoff with Universal Uclick; Dahlia Lithwick of Slate magazine; Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times; Andrea Mitchell of NBC News; Maggie Mulvihill from the New England Center for Investigative Reporting; Bill Nichols of Politico; Sandra Peddie from Newsday; Bob Schieffer of CBS News; Eric Schmitt of The New York Times; Alicia Shepard, a freelance journalist and media consultant; Paul Steiger of ProPublica; Pierre Thomas of ABC News; Saundra Torry of USA Today, who is the Steering Committee secretary-treasurer; and Judy Woodruff of the PBS NewsHour.

About the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Founded in 1970, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press offers free legal support to thousands of working journalists and media lawyers each year. It is a leader in the fight against persistent efforts by government officials to impede the release of public information, whether by withholding documents or threatening reporters with jail. In addition to its 24/7 Legal Defense Hotline, the Reporters Committee conducts cutting-edge legal research, publishes handbooks and guides on media law issues, files frequent friend-of-the-court legal briefs and offers challenging fellowships and internships for young lawyers and journalists. For more information, go to www.rcfp.org, or follow us on Twitter @rcfp.

Related Reporters Committee resources:

· Steering Committee

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