Dan Rather swears in Lisa Matthews as Club president at online inaugural gala, calls her work 'essential, noble'
Lisa Nicole Matthews placed her left hand on the Associated Press Stylebook, raised her right hand and was sworn in as the 114th president of the National Press Club by legendary CBS broadcast veteran Dan Rather Saturday at the Club’s virtual inaugural gala.
“The country needs you and the National Press Club needs you -- now more than ever," Rather told Matthews. "The country needs you to find out and communicate what is going on, what is really going on, and tell it. Lisa, yours now is especially essential, noble work.”
Matthews, assignment editor for U.S. Video at The Associated Press, is the third Black president of the Club and the 14th woman to serve in the role. In her inaugural address, she noted that women were admitted to the 108-year-old Club beginning in 1971, and the first Black members joined after a Club referendum in 1955.
“The first presidents of the National Press Club did not look like me," Matthews said. “What you are seeing today, my friends, is progress, and I congratulate you for your participation in the progress of the Club.
Fiscally conservative Club stewardship
In her year as president, Matthews said she aims to strengthen the Club’s financial position and focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Club has taken "a substantial financial hit" due to coronavirus pandemic, she said. The organization has adapted with appropriate safety measures and virtual programming but challenges remain.
"And while there's a vaccine now, we are not yet out of the woods," Matthews said. "Continue to expect a fiscally conservative approach to this year and potentially more hard choices ahead."
Focus on diversity, equity and inclusion
On diversity, she expressed her pride that the entire slate of Club officers this year will be female. To “keep the train moving,” she said, the Club will offer free one-year memberships to graduates of historically black colleges and universities.
On equity, she cited Walter Cronkite (late former longtime anchor of CBS News), Gwen Ifill (late co-anchor of the PBS News Hour) and Susan Zirinsky (first woman president of CBS News), as broadcasters who have been honored as recipients of the Club's Fourth Estate Award for lifetime contributions to journalism.
A broadcaster herself, Matthews said their example will be used to increase the numbers of broadcasters as members of the Club, which traditionally was focused on print journalism.
On inclusion, Matthews said the Club will welcome everybody as members -- whether they are young, retired, communicators, Black, Hispanic or LGBTQ.
Press freedom, media literacy, role of Club president
She said the Club will redouble efforts to bring home journalist Austin Tice, detained in Syria for eight years, and other journalists around the world who are detained.
“To counter the war on facts, we can and we must serve our public better as a Club by supercharging out educational efforts on ‘the who, the what, the where and the how’ of journalism,” she said.
Matthews succeeds 2020 Club President Michael Freedman, who toasted her and quoted this line from the young poet Amanda Gorman, who spoke at President Biden’s inauguration: “For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.”
Said Freedman: “Rarely in the history of our country has journalism been more vital to the survival of our democracy, and rarely in the history of the National Press Club has the role of president been more vital to the profession of journalism. My friend and colleague Lisa Matthews, my professional partner of the past year, possesses the insight, decisiveness and sense of mission to take the Club and the profession forward in a positive, inclusive and meaningful manner."
Tributes to Matthews
The inaugural event began with tributes from Matthews’ friends, families and colleagues, beginning with her brother and ending with AP colleagues around the world, from Hong Kong to Venice.
The speakers sketched her life from birth at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland in 1968 to schools in Virginia, graduation from James Madison University, her career at the AP, a brief sojourn in public relations and her return to the AP.
Highlights of her career included two Edward R. Murrow Awards and challenges, including being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995.
Accolades from the wider world of journalism came from Bill Whitaker of CBS News, Harris Faulkner of Fox News, Katie Couric of Katie Couric Media, and Lester Holt of NBC Nighty News.
Proceeds from the event, $23,000, will provide meals delivered by the Club to staff of Howard University Hospital. Donate online.