WVPA Foundation

The West Virginia Press Association Foundation is the charitable arm of the West Virginia Press Association. It works to improve the current and future quality of newspapers and their employees. The Foundation also is the major sponsor of the annual West Virginia Press Association Convention, the premier educational event each year for state newspapers.

The Foundation and its board members work with editors, publishers, and educators across the state to train current and future employees. It coordinates the scholarship and internship programs.

Mission

The West Virginia Press Association Foundation’s mission is to champion and improve the quality and future of West Virginia newspaper enterprises and the communities they serve in West Virginia. It creates and provides more timely training opportunities for leaders and employees of newspapers of all sizes, in all departments to help West Virginia papers excel.

“If West Virginia is to have the best newspapers in the nation, then WVPAF must provide the best training in the nation.”   ~ Bill Fouch, Past Foundation President

Purpose

The West Virginia Press Association Foundation Inc. is a non-profit public educational foundation that operates various programs, including:

  1. The WVPAF underwrites part of the cost of the West Virginia Press Association’s Annual Convention to keep registration fees as low as possible.
  2. The WVPAF provides high-quality workshops and seminars that address all areas of the newspaper, including issues that impact our industry’s future.
  3. The WVPAF director is working with journalism instructors to bring the state’s journalism students and our newspapers closer together.
    1. The WVPAF helps support the state’s NIE program. Newspapers may use the Foundation as a depository for donated funds to their NIE programs, since WVPAF is a 501(c)3 organization.
    2. The WVPAF administers several scholarship funds that provide financial assistance to West Virginia students preparing for newspaper careers. These funds provide a select number of scholarships that are awarded each year.
    3. WVPAF also sponsors an internship program for West Virginia newspapers. Each year a select number of  newspaper publishers are awarded $3,000 each toward paying their summer intern.
  4. The WVPAF supports Freedom of Information initiatives.
    1. The WVPAF helped underwrite the cost of the Freedom of Information video that members can use in their own communities to help readers and leaders understand the significance of West Virginia’s Open Meeting Laws.
    2. It also published The Reporters’ Field Handbook for members.
  5. The WVPAF works with other organizations that benefit the future of West Virginia’s newspapers.
  6. Your WVPAF is working to help West Virginia newspapers meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities of new technology.

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