National Press Club Hires ABC News Veteran Vija Udenans as Director of Broadcast Operations

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Sep 15, 2010, 11:04 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Press Club, the world's leading professional organization for journalists, announced today that ABC News veteran Vija Udenans has been hired as Director of Broadcast Operations effective Oct. 4, 2010.

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Udenans, whose career at ABC spanned more than 20 years, was ABC's White House Producer from 1994-2007. Recently she has been a Washington-based producer for "World News Tonight" and "Good Morning America," covering the full range of stories from politics to weather. Earlier in her career, Udenans was director of Broadcast Operations for the ABC News Washington bureau, where she exercised full financial authority over daily operations and oversaw planning, scheduling and technical staffing for more than 200 employees in studio and field operations.

It was at the White House job that Udenans earned her reputation for excellence, often serving as the producer of the networks' (ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC) pooled coverage. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, among them the highest honors in broadcasting: the Peabody Award and the Dupont-Columbia Award, both for coverage of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Vija is a true professional, and we are delighted to have her leading our broadcast team at the National Press Club," said NPC Executive Director Bill McCarren. Udenans will lead a team of seven staff and dozens of part-time employees who shoot, edit, transmit and post video of events at the National Press Club and other locations for clients, including broadcasters, governments, corporations and the public relations firms that serve them.

In 2006 the Press Club designed and outfitted a digital broadcast facility complete with studios, edit bay, control rooms, master control, green rooms and other support. The NPC Broadcast Operations Center handles hundreds of projects each year for newsmakers and celebrities such as Tiger Woods, George Clooney, Alan Greenspan, Venus Williams, Nick Jonas, Toby Keith and others. After four years of operations, the NPC has earned a reputation for excellence from its clients in the media and public relations communities.

"The work of Vija Udenans speaks for itself and meets the highest standards in the industry," said NPC President Alan Bjerga of Bloomberg News. "We believe many leaders in Washington and beyond will want to have their video production needs met by the staff under her direction."

Udenans is a member of the White House Correspondents Association, Radio/Television Correspondents Association, American Women in Radio and Television and other professional organizations. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Television and Radio from Michigan State University and has done coursework toward an MBA at New York University. She has studied International Broadcasting at London Polytechnic. Udenans lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club hosts more than 2,000 events every year and is visited annually by more than 250,000 guests. Among them are the Club's more than 3,400 members who represent nearly every major journalism organization. The Club is online at www.press.org.

SOURCE National Press Club