Speaker Bios
Marissa Parra
National Correspondent
NBC News, Miami, FL
Marissa Parra is a national correspondent based in Miami, reporting on a mix of breaking news and Florida politics. Her time at NBC was preceded by Chicago’s WBBM-TV, where she reported for three years. She has lived up and down the East Coast with experience as a native Floridian, a former Baltimore resident, a University of Maryland grad, a Virginia reporter and an ABC News DC producer. She loves to go where the stories take her, but thrilled to be based on the coast she’s called home.
Matt Pearl
National Correspondent
Scripps News, Atlanta, GA
Matt Pearl believes in the power of visual journalism and storytelling to inform audiences and connect our world. As a national correspondent for Scripps News, he travels the country to spotlight the communities, issues, and solutions that make up America.
In Matt’s career, he has reported from the Democratic Convention, presidential inauguration, the World Series, three Super Bowls, and three Olympic Games. His work has been honored with 40 Regional Emmys and 16 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, and he is a five-time NPPA National Solo Video Journalist of the Year.
Matt is the author of The Solo Video Journalist, a how-to book for aspiring storytellers and MMJs, through Routledge and Focal Press. Matt is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and most recently received his MFA degree in Narrative Media from the University of Georgia. He grew up in New Jersey and worked at stations in Sioux City, Iowa and Buffalo, N.Y. before landing in Atlanta, where he's worked and lived for the last 15 years.
Casey Clark
News Director
WJZY, Charlotte, NC
A journalist for 30+ years, Casey has worked in 15 different newsrooms covering every region of the country. Along the way, he developed a simple news philosophy... "Do Interesting Sh*t!" "If we're bored or don't care about what we're reporting, how can we expect viewers to care?" It works. Casey's teams have grown ratings in every newsroom he's led. Additionally, his former employees are now thriving at ABC News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS News, and The Washington Post. Casey's also been honored with a Peabody Award, 2 National Murrows and nearly 2-dozen regional Emmys.
Anne Herbst
Director of Visual Journalism
KUSA, Denver, CO
I’m the Director of Visual Journalism at KUSA-TV in Denver, the director of the NPPA Advanced Storytelling Workshop, and the director of my 7th-grade play about hippies living in Wisconsin. Don’t ask.
When I’m not directing things and leading one of the most talented groups of visual journalists in the universe, I write/shoot/edit/produce stories at KUSA. My work takes me all around the state of Colorado—or as I call it—ColoRADo. Totally different pronunciations. I believe local news can make viewers proud to live in their state, and I try to do that with every story I report and shoot.
The obligatory stuff: I have some awards that range from big (National Murrows, multiple NPPA POY runner-up and finalist nods) to small (1st place for the play about hippies living in Wisconsin). You're journalists--you can research my other qualifications, so get to it.
The fun stuff: I love the mountains and travel and adventure and high fives and laughing and my job and my team at work and my team at home which includes Steve (my husband), Gidget (our dog), and Ernie and Cheeto (our cats that act like dogs).
Brendan Keefe
Chief Investigator
WANF/Gray, Atlanta, GA
Brendan Keefe is Chief Investigator for Atlanta News First Investigates. He’s one of the most-decorated investigative reporters in the nation.
Brendan’s investigations have earned the George Foster Peabody Award, the DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton, six National Edward R. Murrow Awards, a National Emmy and more than 125 regional Emmys.
His biggest motivation is uncovering systemic and institutional failures with the goal of making our communities better and safer places in which to live. Brendan’s stories have changed laws, created a new public safety agency, led to multiple patents, fixed the nation’s 911 system and sent corrupt officials to prison.
Brendan joined Atlanta News First in August 2022 after eight years as an investigative reporter in the city. He began his career more than three decades ago as a news photographer. Brendan never really put the camera down as a reporter and anchor in cities across the nation, including Houston and New York City.
He was embedded with the US Army during the Iraq war. Brendan has also taught generations of journalists as a member of the visiting faculty of the Poynter Institute. Brendan graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in English Literature.
Today, Brendan is a one-man-band by choice, serving as his own photographer, producer and video editor on complex investigations for Atlanta News First and Gray Television’s InvestigateTV.
Ben Otte
Chief photojournalist
WBFF, Baltimore, MD
Ben Otte is the chief photojournalist at WBFF in Baltimore, MD. He is an avid member of the NPPA and loves to participate in its Quarterly Clip Contest, in which he was awarded 2022 East Top Photographer of the Year. He is also a 9-time regional Emmy award winner. Ben was born in Bavaria, Germany and moved to the United States as a child and somehow was brainwashed into working in the TV industry. Ben graduated from Temple University, before beginning his TV career in Lancaster, PA at WGAL-TV, until his time at WBFF in Baltimore began. Ben loves to give back to the industry by judging for NPPA's Quarterly Clip Contest, Best of Photojournalism, and regional Emmy awards. In his spare time, Ben loves to spend time with his wife. He loves to hike, track airplanes via the FlightRadar24 app, and volunteer with his church's camera/recording ministry. Ben LOVES the power of storytelling and the opportunity to enhance stories visually behind the lens and in the edit bay.
Lorenzo Hall
Anchor/REporter
WUSA, Washington, D.C.
Lorenzo Hall is an award-winning journalist and co-anchors WUSA9 News weeknights at 5 pm, 6 pm and 11 pm. A Washington, D.C. native, Lorenzo returned home and joined WUSA9 in the summer of 2018. Since then, he’s guided viewers through many major events, from the storm of scandals involving Virginia’s political leaders to the many protests for racial equality in our nation’s capital and the COVID19 pandemic.
Lorenzo has been recognized for his reporting and writing with eight Emmy Awards, two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, the National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence and Best TV News Anchor by the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association.
Prior to joining WUSA9, Lorenzo served as the primary evening anchor at WTIC-TV, the FOX affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut. His extensive reporting on the current struggles of Vietnam veterans aired nationally on then-Tribune Media television stations.
Before Connecticut, Lorenzo was the 5 p.m. anchor and reporter for WTVR-TV, the CBS affiliate in Richmond, Virginia. He covered a variety of stories while in Richmond, from consistently uncovering wrongdoing by local leaders to flying through a hurricane multiple times aboard a P-3 hurricane hunter aircraft.
Lorenzo spent several years in the Midwest for school and work. He’s a proud Tiger and studied journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri. At “Mizzou,” Lorenzo had the opportunity to spend a portion of his last semester touring Europe to study journalism practices in Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany. While in Columbia, Lorenzo also served as general assignment reporter at KOMU-TV, the NBC affiliate and covered politics for NPR affiliate, KBIA-FM. During winter and summer breaks in college, Lorenzo continued to gain experience in journalism. He was an Emma L. Bowen work-study scholar for four years at NBC4 in Washington, D.C.
Lorenzo’s television career began in high school as a "Posse Member" on Black Entertainment Television’s former talk show for teens, “Teen Summit.”
Jason Lamb
Executive Reporter
WTVF, Nashville, TN
Jason is a national Murrow and 15-time EMMY award-winning reporter for WTVF NewsChannel 5 in Nashville, who is now helping develop storytelling skills in the next generation of journalists.
Over the past year, Jason has coached and mentored more than two dozen reporters and MMJs in several newsrooms within the E.W. Scripps Company to strengthen storytelling and help them develop meaningful connections to their communities. In addition to the Sound of Life Storytelling Workshop, Jason has taught team storytelling techniques at seminars and workshops in Atlanta, Anchorage, Minneapolis and Seattle. Even with all the change inherent in our business, he says the fundamentals of a well-told story that helps audiences feel emotion through characters and natural moments, will always remain the same.
In 2016, Jason was named the winner of the National Press Photographers Association's Photojournalism Award for Reporting. He has also received two SPJ Sigma Delta Chi Awards and a National Headliner award for feature reporting, as well as several regional Murrow awards for excellence in writing. In 2022, Jason received an honorable mention in the Scripps Give Light Awards for Upholding the First Amendment after a series of stories that led to the resignation of a local police chief.
Prior to joining NewsChannel 5 in 2012, Jason was a reporter for KTUU Channel 2 News in Anchorage, Alaska where he covered everything from Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential run and the death of Sen. Ted Stevens to a volcanic eruption and the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
Before his time in Alaska, Jason was a reporter for KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri, where he graduated from the University of Missouri with degrees in Journalism and Political Science.
While in school, Jason spent two summers as an intern for KPTV FOX 12 Oregon. He grew up in Beaverton, Oregon.
Samie SOlina
Multiskilled Journalist
KARE, Minneapolis, MN
Samie Solina believes that everyone has a story — and every day, she does her best to do them justice.
She is a multi-skilled journalist at KARE 11 and has told stories about people all over the western United States, from the mountains of Alaska to the beaches of Hawaii.
She studied journalism at College of the Canyons in her hometown of Santa Clarita, California. There, she landed her first gig in the business writing and producing videos for the local paper. After a fire claimed homes close to her neighborhood, she realized how impactful local journalism could be. She went on to get her degree at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State. In her senior year, she won the Society of Professional Journalists' national award for feature reporting.
She took her first television reporting job at KTUU in Anchorage. She was known for MMJing positive stories highlighting community members and shining a light on good people doing good work. She spent her time off in Alaska exploring new towns, hiking, and camping.
Journalism took her across the Pacific again when she took a job at Hawaii News Now in Honolulu. On the islands, she covered community stories where she highlighted everyday people making positive changes.
She has won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and has most recently won a regional Emmy in 2023.
Chris Womack
Sports Director
WLOS, Asheville, NC
Chris Womack has been working in local news for fourteen years in Birmingham, AL and Asheville, NC and is a proud (annoyingly so) graduate of the University of Alabama. After starting as a tape editor, he took on a photographer role before settling into a News MMJ position with CBS42. Five years later he worked as a sports producer at the same station before leaving for WLOS to begin his anchoring career. Serving as the weekend anchor for the legendary Stan Pamfilis, Chris took the reins of the department in 2020. Chris still MMJs in his new role, in addition to anchoring five days a week. Sports in his mind is a goldmine for aspiring storytellers; action, characters, plot - every ingredient is there in abundance. Chris also tries to find the stories behind the games, the adversity overcome or the great charitable attitudes of those who play the games we love. Chris has been recognized with multiple NPPA Quarterly Clip placings, 12 Edward R. Murrow Regional Awards, and two Emmys for Solo Videojournalist.
John Kirtley
Workshop Director and host
Sound Of Life Media, Asheville, NC
John Kirtley founded Sound Of Life Media in 2016 to spread his passion for the importance of high-quality visual storytelling in television news. He enjoys helping his clients achieve their goals in local markets all over the country and at the national level.
John told stories in markets throughout the country, finishing his newsroom career as the Assistant Chief Photojournalist at WLOS-TV in Asheville, NC.
In his decade-long career as a storyteller, he won numerous awards, including 10 Emmy’s, 5 Edward R. Murrow awards and was named the NPPA’s Ernie Crisp Photojournalist of the Year - Runner-up, the industry's highest honor for photojournalism.
John has spoken at workshops throughout the country, was the co-director of the NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop and is the director of the annual Sound of Life Storytelling Workshop.
John lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and three children.