New President Burr: 'The Press Club means the world to me'

When Tommy Burr moved to Washington, he joined the National Press Club before he found an apartment. ‎A decade later, he is leading the organization.

A Washington correspondent for The Salt Lake Tribune, Burr was elected Club president on Dec. 11 in an election that also saw the most votes ever cast for in an election for communicator members of the Board of Governors.

"The Press Club means the world to me," Burr, 36, said at the Reliable Source after the results were announced. "The Club ‎has been my second home, and it is my goal this next year to make sure that every journalist can see the value that the Club brings to our shared craft and why they should be members. Let's change the page from asking our colleagues to join the Club to having them ask us how they can join."

Burr received 236 votes, beating David Hodes, a freelance reporter, who received 27 votes.

Burr will take office on Jan. 15 and will be inaugurated at a Club dinner on Jan. 23.

He said that the Club can help address some of the biggest challenges facing journalism – consolidation and job losses, curtailment of press freedom and mistreatment of reporters.

“The Press Club is an institution revered for its efforts to help our profession, and I’m honored to build on that reputation and ensure that we hold elected officials accountable, bolster our fellow journalists and ensure that when reporters face a government crackdown, that we’ll go get their back,” Burr said.

Jeff Ballou, an editor/manager for Al-Jazeera Media Network, was elected vice president. He said that the Club can become a “model for professional diversity.”

“I’m looking forward to being a part of a wonderful team that is going to not only channel history but make history,” Ballou said.

There was a total of 268 votes, 235 of them cast online, in races for positions held by journalists, the second most ‎ever recorded.

Other election winners were Andrea Edney, a Bloomberg editor, as treasurer; Joseph Morton, a correspondent for the Omaha World-Herald, as secretary; and Evan McMorris-Santoro, a correspondent for BuzzFeed News, as membership secretary.

Elected as journalist members of the Board of Governors were Ferdous “Danny” Al-Faruque, a reporter for The Gray Sheet; Michael Freedman, executive producer of the The Kalb Report and a senior vice president at the University of Maryland University College; Derek Wallbank, an editor at Bloomberg First Word; and Marilyn Geewax, a reporter for NPR.

Ed Barks, president of Barks Communications, was elected to a third term as a communicator member of the Club board, garnering 115 votes. The 120 total votes cast for the position – 108 of them online – was a record for the communicator seat.

Barks said that one of his goals is to “build bridges between communicators and journalists” and help communicators increase their participation in the Club.

“We’re ready to contribute," he said. "We want to make the Club a success."