We are excited to announce that Dr. Nicole Kraft will be the keynote speaker for the 2020 Touchstone Awards, scheduled for October 21. As a working journalist, an author, and an educator, she is the perfect choice for our event, which recognizes excellence in local journalism and awards scholarships to local journalism students.
Dr. Kraft spent 25 years as an award-winning reporter, editor and magazine journalist, while working also in public relations for professional sports and government communications.
She joined the Ohio State School of Communication in 2010, and her areas of expertise include news, sports and feature writing, social media, sports communication, media law and ethics, and academic use of mobile technology. Her focus in teaching and research has been in utilizing technology in journalism and global education, as well as the intersection of sports and society. Her dissertation developed a grounded theory regarding academic use of mobile technology among student-athletes.
Dr. Kraft is co-director of Ohio State’s Sports & Society Initiative, and as part of the Global One Health Initiative she teaches annually in Ethiopia. In 2015 she was named an Apple Distinguished Educator, and consults with and trains athletic departments around the country in how to better engage student-athletes into academics using mobile technology.
She is also an active journalist, covering sports for the Associated Press and Columbus Dispatch. Her new book, “Always Get the Name of the Dog: A guide to media interviewing,” was released by Routledge in 2019, and in 2020 she authored the digital textbook, “Writing Fabulous Features.”
The date for the 2020 Touchstone Awards has been announced. The ceremony will take place on October 21, 2020. More details to come…we’ll be announcing our speaker and community awards in the coming days and entries for the journalism awards will be open soon.
The Press Club of Toledo is proud to recognize the achievements of local journalists and community leaders each year at the annual Touchstone Awards dinner. We are now accepting nominations for our three community awards: Lifetime Achievement Award, Touchstone Contributor, and Golden Touchstone. 
The 21st Touchstone Awards were held in front of a capacity crowd at the Toledo Club on Wednesday night. Pictured at left are members of the Press Club board, along with special guests Nikki Battise of CBS News, and the youngest Press Club member in history, Jaden Jefferson. Thanks to everyone who attended…and congratulations to all of our winners. Please consider becoming a member of the Press Club and helping us host more events like the Touchstone Awards throughout the year. 
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