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USA TODAY Reporter Donna Leinwand Becomes President of National Press Club

Friday 16. January 2009 - USA TODAY announces that Reporter Donna Leinwand becomes president of the National Press Club today, January 16, 2009.

The National Press Club is the world’s leading organization for journalists and has 3,500 members worldwide. USA TODAY is the Nation’s top-selling newspaper, with an average daily circulation of 2.3 million.

“We’re proud of Donna’s many accomplishments and look forward to her leadership of this remarkable organization,” said Ken Paulson, editor and senior vice president for USA TODAY.

Leinwand will be sworn in as the National Press Club’s 102nd president at an inaugural gala on Saturday, January 31. The evening will begin with an internationally-themed cocktail reception, followed by an all-American dinner and entertainment by political satirist Mark Russell. Paulson will be offering a keynote speech, his last as editor of USA TODAY. He becomes president and chief operating officer of the Newseum and Freedom Forum in February.

Leinwand has been with USA TODAY since 2000, covering crime, justice and disasters. She has reported from Germany, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Indonesia, Thailand, Bahrain, Turkey and Iraq. Leinwand has worked for Gannett News Service, the Knight Ridder Washington bureau and The Miami Herald. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Washington, D.C. She has been a member of the Club’s board for six years, serving as vice president in 2008 and chairman of the board in 2005.