Three esteemed panelists will discuss what they’re working on in 2024, what stories they’d like to hear about and how public relations professionals can best work with journalists in a changing Indianapolis media landscape. We’re lucky to welcome a special guest moderator, local TV news legend Debby Knox. You won’t want to miss.

We’re making this available at an unbeatable price: $15 for members — bring your own lunch — or you can opt-in for an additional $15 if you’d like to have your lunch supplied.

For those who select lunch: Be sure to follow the instructions accordingly on the Constant Contact registration page to ensure you’re counted. The lunch buffet will include:

• Chicken and tuna salad
• Caeser salad
• Fresh fruit salad
• Black bean-veggie salad
• Croissants and rolls
• Kettle chips
• Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies

Panelists

A veteran journalist with more than 25 years of experience, Oseye (pronounced O-she-uh) Boyd is editor-in-chief of Mirror Indy, a nonprofit news organization created to fill gaps in local news coverage in Indianapolis. Oseye was previously public engagement editor for IndyStar where she wrote a weekly column, managed opinion submissions and letters to the editor, and facilitated opportunities to connect with the community. She spearheaded the Black Community Advisory Council, which helped IndyStar provide better coverage to the Black community, and launched the podcast, Voices of the Community, which highlighted those working behind the scenes to make Indianapolis and Indiana a better place for all. Oseye also developed content for Facebook Live webisodes. While in college at Ball State University in Muncie, her hometown, Oseye was a part-time copy clerk at The Star Press; she began her professional career as a full-time reporter at Indianapolis Recorder in 2001 before returning a year later to The Star Press where she spent a decade as education reporter, general assignment reporter, features writer and editor of the entertainment magazine, All Access. She worked for the popular print and online consumer-focused Angie’s List before being hired back at the Recorder and Indiana Minority Business Magazine, which she led as editor. The newsroom won numerous first-place journalism awards. She joined IndyStar in June 2022. Oseye is an adjunct professor at the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media at Butler University. She is also a certified instructor of Les Mills Body Pump, a low-weight, high-repetition strength-training class.

In September 2023, which marked her 19th anniversary at the Indianapolis Star, Shari Rudavsky was promoted to news editor of the state’s largest paper. She was hired as a health and medicine reporter in 2004, where she reported on Indiana’s important public health issues, the recent HIV outbreak and the opioid crisis. Before joining the Star, she wrote about health and education for the Miami Herald from 1996 to 2001. Her work also appeared in the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. In 2022, the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists honored Shari with the Indiana Journalism Courage Award. Rudavsky’s reporting on a 10-year-old rape victim who sought an abortion in Indiana drew national attention, bringing insults and threats from the public and scrutiny from elected leaders and other media outlets. Shari holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Harvard University.

Lesley Weidenbener is editor of the Indianapolis Business Journal, a news organization with more than a dozen daily and weekly email newsletters, a weekly newspaper, two podcasts and several special publications, including Forty Under 40 and Women of Influence. She’s also editor of the Inside INdiana Business news website and of the Indiana 250, a list of the most influential business and community leaders in Indiana that is published by IBJ Media, the parent of the Indianapolis Business Journal and Inside INdiana Business. She oversees a staff of 20, including reporters, editors, designers and researchers. A Vincennes native and Ball State University graduate, Lesley joined IBJ as managing editor in 2015 after two decades covering the Indiana Statehouse for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne and as editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students. She became IBJ editor in 2021.

Guest Moderator: Debby Knox

Three-time Emmy Award winner Debby Knox, a beloved Central Indiana journalistic icon, wrapped up a 46-year career in broadcasting in November 2023. Her final stint at Indianapolis-based CBS affiliate WTTV-TV [Channel 4] included anchoring and reporting for the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Born in Chicago and raised in Michigan, the two-time beauty pageant winner truly became one of Indiana’s Own as a fixture on local newscasts beginning as an on-air reporter in 1980 with WISH-TV Channel 8, then the CBS affiliate. She took on the duties of noon co-anchor and medical reporter before being promoted to anchoring the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WISH-TV. She covered the state’s biggest stories before retiring in 2013 but came back to help relaunch the CBS4 newscast in 2014 when the station switched from being an independent.

During her distinguished tenure she interviewed a who’s who of national newsmakers, including two U.S. Presidents (Bill Clinton and Barack Obama), First Lady Barbara Bush, several U.S. senators and secretaries of state, and many governors and First Ladies. She also was the first person to interview HIV/AIDS patient Ryan White, the 13-year-old teenager who became an activist along with his mother as he battled that illness.

Among her travels as a reporter, Debby went to Egypt where she met the First Lady of that country, Suzanne Mubarak. She also accompanied the Indiana National Guard to Bosnia where troops were assigned peacekeeping duties. In Mexico City, she covered a global school started by Indianapolis philanthropist Christel DeHaan.

Debby won two United Press International (UPI) first-place awards for documentaries: One about a patient undergoing a heart transplant and one for an investigation into the Indiana Blood Center. She is a first place Society of Professional Journalists winner for medical reporting and received the Barrett Award from the Indiana Psychological Association.

Debby is a recipient of the Silver Circle Honor from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She is a member of the Associated Press Hall of Fame and was a six-time pick by Indianapolis Woman Magazine as top local female TV anchor. The magazine also recognized her as a top local health reporter.

In regards to other honors, Debby is the recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash Distinguished Hoosier Award and is also in the hall of fame in her hometown of Edwardsburg, Michigan. One of her proudest accomplishments was competing in a powerlifting competition at the National Institute of Sport and Fitness; she is also a member of a critical incident stress management team.

Since retiring, Debby fills her time traveling and working with the League of Women Voters. She also is a supporter of PANCAN, an organization devoted to increasing awareness of pancreatic cancer. Her sister, Lisa, is a survivor of that illness. She is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church and supports St. Richards Episcopal School, Cathedral High School and Butler University – especially the basketball team.

She has two children, son Michael Tirman and daughter Anna Kidwell (husband Jared), and is the proud grandmother of a toddler, Evelyn. Debby was married 37 years to psychologist Richard Tirman until his death in 2019. She now shares her life with partner Richard Howard.