A Carleton professor is one of seven new members of the National Press Club of Canada’s board of directors.

Dwayne Winseck, a journalism professor, was elected to the press club Sept. 28 by Roxanne Brousseau-Felio, a former student and press club committee member.

It’s a nice validation . . . it’s nice to see that whatever I’m doing, whatever I’m putting out there is being validated. This is a pretty significant marker,” Winseck said.

The positions weren’t just limited to journalists, he said. A more accurate name for the organization would be “the media club,” he added.
“It’s people that are basically working in the media industry and that’s one of the things that I’m really going to press for in terms of how we think about this.”

His position will involve monthly meetings to define the press club’s direction.

“We have to determine what the organization’s going to do, we have to define it’s mission,” he said.

The press club was founded in 1928 by Ottawa Citizen journalist Guy Rhoades and Ottawa Journal journalist Francis Rowse. It was initially for reporters and editors and only started accepting women in 1970, according to their website.

Although it was used as a forum for growth and discussion on journalism and media industries, Winseck said the club has been fairly inactive for the last decade.

The first meeting for the 2011-12 board of directors will take place Oct. 17.