Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation Board of Trustees

The Association’s Board of Trustees includes members from across Pennsylvania who represent daily, nondaily and digital news media organizations. Executive Committee Officers serve one-year terms; Trustees serve three-year terms.

The 2025 PNA Foundation Board of Trustees meetings are scheduled as follows:

  • Tuesday, Feb. 25 at PNA Offices, Harrisburg
  • Monday, June 23 at PNA Offices, Harrisburg
  • Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Hershey Country Club

Executive Committee

CHAIRMAN

William R. Lynett

Times Shamrock Communications, Scranton

blynett@timesshamrock.com

William R. Lynett was publisher emeritus of the Times-Tribune (Scranton) from 2012 to 2023 and served as publisher from 1966 to 2012. He also held the position of CEO of Shamrock Communications from 1972 to 2009 and president of The Daily Review, Towanda, from 1977 to 1984.

Bill is chairman of the PNA Foundation Board of Trustees. He also sits on the University of Scranton Kania School of Management Advisory Board and the Marywood University Board of Trustees.

In 2016, PNA presented Bill, a former PNA board chair, with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2015, he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Bill and his wife, the former Mary Jean Foley, have visited six countries on the African continent and have taken nine safaris.

VICE CHAIRWOMAN

Cate Barron

Retired, PennLive/The Patriot-News, Harrisburg

catebarron1@gmail.com

Cate Barron has spent more than four decades in Pennsylvania journalism, retiring as president of PA Media Group in 2023. Her career began in her hometown of Lewistown as news director at WMRF Radio and, later, as a reporter for The Sentinel.

During her long tenure at The Patriot-News and PennLive, Cate led the challenging conversion from a print-based to a digital newsroom. Today, PennLive.com ranks among the nation’s news and information websites with the highest market reach. She managed myriad news initiatives and was part of the editing team during coverage of the Jerry Sandusky scandal that won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Local News. In 2017, she launched Penn Studios, the company’s Emmy-winning video division.

Cate received PNA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023. While working as an editor, she chaired both PSNE and PAPME boards and spent two terms on APME. She treasures the close bonds she formed with many outstanding journalists in these organizations. She currently serves on several community boards, in addition to the PNA Foundation.

These days, Cate describes herself as “semi-retired” and is doing some management consulting and professional mentoring. She and husband Bob Vucic live in Camp Hill but devote much of their time to rehabbing an old hunting camp in Michaux State Forest. She’s enjoying getting together more often with family and friends and has rediscovered the joys of reading — just for the fun of it!

SECRETARY

Scott Blanchard

scottblanchard0407@gmail.com

As past director of journalism at WITF, I worked on things like newsroom strategy, culture, ethics, and training; I worked with reporters on stories; and I was deeply involved with our community engagement efforts and collaborations with other news organizations.

My roots in journalism go back to growing up outside Washington, D.C., reading Woodward and Bernstein in my hometown paper, and being drawn to the ideals of freedom of the press and holding the powerful to account. I also idolized the Post’s sports columnists, and in fact, was a sports reporter/editor before I moved to news.

I followed journalism’s call to the University of Missouri, then to jobs in Virginia and Maryland before landing in Pennsylvania, where I spent 16+ years with the York Daily Record. I’ve lived near Gettysburg for more than two decades; residing in rural Pennsylvania helps inform my work as a journalist and my belief that listening is one of the most important things we can do.

If I’m not doing journalism stuff, I may be traveling, bird-watching, or both. Relatedly, right now I’m reading “Normandy ’44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France” by James Holland … because my wife and I are going to Normandy this summer. My wife, Betsy, and I are among the many owners of the fan-owned Heart of Midlothian Football Club which is based at Tynecastle Park in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TREASURER

Henry Nyce

Retired, The Republican-Herald, Pottsville

henrynyce@gmail.com

Henry H. Nyce retired as the Publisher of The Republican-Herald, in Pottsville, and General Manager of the Times-Shamrock Commercial Print Division in 2019. During his long tenure at The Republican-Herald, he served as General Manager, Director of Corporate Services and Marketing, Director of Marketing and Director of Advertising. His career began in advertising at The (Sharon) Herald and the Pocono Record in Stroudsburg.

Henry graduated from Youngstown State University in Ohio with a B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in advertising with a minor in journalism, where he served as a sales and advertising manager for The Jambar, the bi-weekly newspaper of the university.

Henry is a past-president of the Northeast Manufacturer’s Association of Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania, the Pottsville Kiwanis Club, the Schuylkill County Chamber of Commerce and a former board member of Schuylkill County’s VISION and the Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation. He has been associated with the Schuylkill United Way since 1987 serving as solicitor in the Services Division, a co-chair of the Industrial Division, member of the Board of Directors Executive Committee, Campaign Chair for 2002 and is Past President of their Board of Directors.

Henry joined the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Board of Directors until he retired in 2019. He became a board member of the PNA Foundation Board of Trustees in 2022.

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN

Dave Martens

Retired, The York Dispatch

2dave.martens@gmail.com

Dave Martens’ 46-year career in York journalism began in 1978 as Publisher of the York Daily Record, and since 2004 as Publisher of The York Dispatch. Significant stories during this time include the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident, the 50th anniversary of the 1969 York Race riots reporting and the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Intelligent Design trial.

“I’ve had the wonderful good fortune of working with a long list of good people over the years,” he said recently. “I’ve seen many changes in the business model for newspapers during that time which continues to this day.”

Dave joined the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation Board of Trustees in 2009, serving as chairman from 2021 to 2023. PNA recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Dave also served as a mentor to small businesses through SCORE, a service of the Small Business Administration.

PRESIDENT

Bill Cotter

President & CEO · Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association

bcotter@pa-news.org

ASSISTANT SECRETARY

Melissa Bevan Melewsky

PNA Media Law Counsel

melissam@pa-news.org

ASSISTANT TREASURER

Diane Brinser

Vice President, Finance

dianeb@pa-news.org

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Tanya Henderson

PNA Foundation

tanyah@pa-news.org

Board of Trustees

Paula Knudsen Burke

Reporters Committee for
Freedom of the Press, Pennsylvania
pknudsen@rcfp.org

Joyce Davis

PennLive/The Patriot-News, Harrisburg
jdavis@pennlive.com

David Erdman

Muhlenberg University
daverdman@gmail.com

Helen Fallon

Point Park University
(Pittsburgh)
hfallon@pointpark.edu

Frederick Frank, Esq.

Frank, Gale, Bails & Pocrass, P.C.
ffrank@f-gbp.com

Richard Ganahl

Bloomsburg University
rganahl@gmail.com

Sherri Growden

Bedford Gazette
jdavis@pennlive.com

Larry Holeva

The Times-Tribune, Scranton
lholeva@timesshamrock.com

Chip Minemyer

The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown
cminemyer@tribdem.com

Gary Owen

Muller Martini
gary.owen@us.mullermartini.com

Tammy Shuey

Butler Eagle
tschuey@butlereagle.com

Stan Wischnowski

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
swischnowski@post-gazette.com