Brian McGrory is the editor of The Boston Globe. A 27-year veteran of the Globe, he was previously a Metro columnist and associate editor. Born and raised in Boston and the region, he has also worked as the Globe’s Metro editor, White House reporter, national reporter, general assignment reporter, and suburban reporter. He won the Scripps-Howard award for commentary and the Sigma Delta Chi award for general column writing in 2011. The Globe was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2014 for its coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and has been a finalist in four other categories over the last two years. McGrory has authored four published novels and a memoir about his family’s pet rooster.
Brian McGrory
Nicco Mele
Nicco Mele is a managing director at the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation. From 2016 to 2019, Nicco was the Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Nicco’s prior experience includes founding technology companies, working on political campaigns, and a stint as a media executive at the Los Angeles Times. He has published widely, including the international bestseller “The End of Big: How The Digital Revolution Makes David The New Goliath” published in 2013 by St. Martin’s Press. He also wrote and illustrated a children’s book titled “Dogs I Have Loved” available on Amazon.
Nicco co-founded the Massachusetts Poetry Festival (where he still serves as board chair) and in 2014 he co-produced a documentary about the poet W.S. Merwin, “Even Though The Whole World Is Burning“. Nicco also founded The Lexington Observer, a non-profit local news website in his hometown.
Nicco lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Morra Aarons-Mele (creator of The Anxious Achiever and author of Hiding in the Bathroom) and their three children (and four cats).
For more information on Nicco Mele visit https://nicco.org/.
New England Newspaper Convention Schedule Available Now
We are excited to announce the program and schedule are available for the New England Newspaper Convention happening on April 29 and 30 at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.
The deadline to register for ticketed events is April 22 and the deadline to register for sessions is April 25.
We are still adding finishing touches and some additional workshops, panels, and speakers you’ll see at the convention so check the Program page before the event. Use this menu to find out more information and to purchase tickets for all events.
Convention Home | Register for Event | Program | Hotel Reservations | Sponsors
Yankee Quill Luncheon | Hall of Fame Dinner
Roy Gutterman
An expert on communications law and the First Amendment, Roy Gutterman is director of the Newhouse School’s Tully Center for Free Speech.
He is a graduate of the Newhouse School and the Syracuse University College of Law.
Gutterman worked as a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer covering local and state government, crime, legal issues and general news. He later clerked for a New Jersey Superior Court judge and practiced business and general litigation. He also holds a courtesy appointment at the College of Law.
He writes and speaks on media law, free speech, the intersection between courts and journalists and legal education issues. He has delivered lectures at the Communication University of China in Beijing, Fudan University in Shanghai, National Chengchi University in Taipei and Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia.
Gutterman was head of the AEJMC Law and Policy division from 2019-20, and is program director for the Burton Foundation for Legal Achievement. He sits on the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists and the faculty committee for the Government Accountability Project in Washington, D.C.
At Newhouse, Gutterman was the 2009-10 director of the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program. He also works with the Society of Professional Journalists student chapter and serves on academic integrity committees.
As an undergraduate, he worked at The Boston Globe; The Courier-News in Bridgewater, N.J. The Post-Standard in Syracuse; and The Daily Orange. While in law school, he served as editor-in-chief of the law review.
His book, “L.Rev: the Law Review Experience in American Legal Education” (Academica Press 2002), is in law school libraries around the world.
Sam Fisher
Sam Fisher recently retired as president/CEO of the Illinois Press Association/Foundation. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Prior to joining the IPA Fisher spent 34 years with Shaw Media with over 25 years as a publisher of daily and weekly newspapers in northern Illinois.
Fisher is a past board chair of the Illinois Press Association and currently serves as a board member of the Illinois Press Foundation. During his career, Fisher has been active in protecting public notices and advancing sound legislation to preserve the newspaper’s role in the public notice process.
Fisher and Lori Frick reside in Princeton, Il. Fisher has a daughter, Meg who is a junior at Augustana College; a daughter, Brooke (Tim) Miller of Woodstock, GA; and a son, Ben, of Princeton. He also has two grandsons.
Karen Florin
Karen Florin takes great pleasure in serving as a cheerleader for her co-workers and engaging with members of the community while working on the company’s digital strategy and long-term sustainability. She writes a weekly news column, organizes events, hosts a podcast called “The Storyline,” and raises funds for special projects.
Florin was a reporter for 25 years, focusing most recently on the court system. She was a longtime member, and co-chair, of Connecticut’s Judicial-Media Committee. In 2018, she was named Journalist of the Year by the New England Newspaper Association. She cherishes the Liberty Bell award bestowed on her by The New London County Bar Association in 2019.
She lives in Old Lyme with her husband Robert and their pets.
Chris Crockett
Chris Crockett is the publisher at MaineStay Media, a newspaper group on the coast of Maine that includes The Ellsworth American, Mount Desert Islander, Courier-Gazette, Republican Journal, Camden Herald, and the Free Press. Chris has worked in newspapers for over 25 years, launching the newspaper’s digital initiatives and leading the advertising and sales teams before stepping into the role of publisher in 2020.
Brendan McQuaid
Brendan McQuaid is the current President of the New Hampshire Press Association. His day job is serving as President and Publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader, the only statewide newspaper. A third-generation newspaperman, McQuaid was born and raised in the Granite State. He lives in Manchester with his wife and two basset hounds.
Traci Griffith
A lawyer, journalist, academic, and advocate, Traci Griffith currently serves as the Racial Justice Program Director for the ACLU of Massachusetts. Her transition to the staff of ACLUM comes after serving the organization on the National ACLU Board of Directors, on the Executive Committee, and as the National Board Secretary.
Her previous career as an Associate Professor in the Communications Department at Simmons University and as Chair of the Media Studies Department at St. Michael’s College in Vermont focused on First Amendment law and ethics, as well as Race and Gender representation in media. She continues to teach as an adjunct at Simmons and also runs a cultural competency training business.
Traci is a former correspondent and national editor for the Associated Press and continues to pursue journalism with recent work that includes a 4-part series with New England News Collaborative on racism in New England, Titled, NENC/America Amplified Special: New England’s Abolitionist History at Odds With Racist Realities · New England News Collaborative.
She holds University degrees from Notre Dame Law School, an M.S. in Journalism from Florida A&M, and a BA in Political Science from DePaul.
She lives in Cambridge with her son Jaden and her 4-pound chihuahua Bessie.
Robert J. Ambrogi, Esq.
Robert J. Ambrogi is a lawyer who practices media and technology law and serves as executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association. Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of the National Law Journal, the nation’s largest legal newspaper, and editorial director of American Lawyer Media’s Litigation Services Division. Before joining ALM, Bob was founding editor of the national newspaper Lawyers Weekly USA and editor-in-chief of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
In addition to practicing law, Bob is internationally known for his writing and speaking about legal technology and innovation. He writes the award-winning blog LawSites and is a columnist for Above the Law, the most highly trafficked legal website. He hosts two podcasts: LawNext, about innovation in law, and Legaltech Week, a weekly roundtable of journalists discussing the top stories in legal technology and innovation.
In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” In 2017, he received the Yankee Quill award for journalism from the Academy of New England Journalists and was honored by the ABA Journal magazine as a Legal Rebels Trailblazer. He also received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s President’s Award for his service at Lawyers Weekly.