Five Inductees Selected for Virginia Communications Hall of Fame

By Tom Gresham

The 2009 class of inductees into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame includes a decorated print journalist, an influential educator, a dedicated First Amendment lawyer, a service-minded public relations executive and television host and an innovative broadcasting executive. 

Hazel Trice Edney, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association New Service; the late Ronald MacDonald, who taught for three decades at Washington and Lee University; Craig Merritt, a lawyer who has worked with a number of media companies and organizations; Joel Rubin, CEO of Rubin Communications Group and former host of the roundtable show, “On the Record;” and Steven Soldinger, who has managed a number of radio and television stations in Virginia and elsewhere, will be inducted in a ceremony on April 2 at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Mass Communications will host the ceremony.

Professionals with exceptional careers in journalism, public relations, advertising and other media fields are eligible for selection to the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. Possible inductees must have significant ties to Virginia. The newest class of inductees increases the hall’s membership to 112.

“This year’s class of inductees has shown an admirable dedication to public service,” said Judy VanSlyke Turk, chair of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame Selection Committee and director of the VCU School of Mass Communications. They have contributed not only to the advancement of communications in their respective fields but to the improvement of their communities.”

Edney has covered a host of major stories as a reporter and editor, including the 2000 presidential election, the 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She also exclusively covered the flight of civil rights icon Rosa Parks’ body from Detroit to Montgomery with Parks’ family. Edney, who started her career with the Richmond Afro-Press and later worked for the Richmond Free Press, also has served as a Wasserman Fellow on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.

MacDonald, who died last year, joined the journalism department at Washington and Lee in 1969 and taught students there until his retirement in 2001. During his tenure at W&L, MacDonald greatly expanded news coverage at WLUR-FM, the radio station operated by the school’s journalism department, and authored “A Broadcast Manual of Style,” which has been used in local TV newsrooms nationwide. MacDonald’s students advanced to careers in the news divisions of ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, among many other outlets. Before teaching, MacDonald worked in a variety of roles in television and radio news for 18 years, including 13 years at WDBJ in Roanoke.

Merritt, a partner in the Christian & Barton law firm, has represented the Virginia Press Association, individual newspapers and various broadcast stations for 15 years on a range of legal issues, including defamation defense, freedom of information and access issues, prepublication review and reporters’ privilege matters. For instance, Merritt argued and won two recent major Virginia Supreme Court appeals on freedom of information issues on behalf of several Virginia newspapers. Merritt also represents the press in the Virginia General Assembly.

Rubin hosted “On the Record,” an issues-oriented Sunday morning roundtable talk show from 1991 to 2008 on WVEC-TV in Norfolk. He taped more than 700 shows during that period and interviewed thousands of guests. Prior to hosting “On the Record,” Rubin worked for 16 years as an award-winning news and feature reporter with WAVY-TV in Norfolk. Rubin started Rubin Communications Group, a full-service marketing and public relations firm in Virginia Beach, in 1991. Rubin also has been a frequent moderator for community symposiums, debates and town hall meetings.

Soldinger, who has worked in broadcasting since he was a teenager, is currently the vice president and general manager for three television stations owned by CBS in Tampa, Atlanta and Portsmouth. He has served in a range of management roles during his career and is known as a trailblazer for managing multiple stations in multiple markets. During his years as Chief Operating Officer for Equity Communications, he helped build the company into one of the top holders of broadcast spectrum in the country. Soldinger has developed a number of community projects through his stations.

The reception for the induction ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and the ceremony to follow. Tickets are $150 each and can be reserved by calling (804) 827-3761. Proceeds benefit the Hall of Fame permanent exhibit and scholarship fund.