Four fixtures in Atlanta media, who have a combined 140-plus years in the business, were inducted into the Atlanta Press Club last week: lovable cheapskate Clark Howard, super-connected business reporter Maria Saporta, veteran TV photojournalist Tony Light and late, deep-thinking author Valerie Boyd.
Here are highlights from the sold-out event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead.
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Valerie Boyd
Valerie Boyd, the posthumous pick this year for the Press Club, was a former arts editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an acclaimed author and beloved University of Georgia journalism professor. She died of pancreatic cancer in 2022 at age 58.
In her introduction, Moni Basu, a CNN.com reporter and longtime friend of Boyd, lauded Boyd’s intelligence and charisma. “Valerie could walk into a roomful of strangers and two stories later leave them so charmed, they often found themselves under her spell,” she said.
Veta Goler, Boyd’s longtime partner, accepted the award on her behalf. “In her professional life, she was an amazing journalist, writer, editor and teacher,” Goler said. “In her personal life, she was a fantastic friend, family member, cheerleader, connector.”
She had a way, Goler noted, “of telling Black women’s stories that highlighted the truth and revealed their inner lives … She lived her life fully. She traveled, she learned, she shared, she laughed, she loved.”
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Clark Howard
Clark Howard has been gleefully dispensing consumer advice for more than 35 years on WSB-TV, on radio, in the AJC, on his website and on podcasts, espousing his love for credit unions, cheap plane tickets and Costco.
“He’s famous for being a cheapskate, but he’s generous with his time, his advice and his money,” said Mark Meltzer, his co-author on multiple books and presenter.
Meltzer said he once purchased a home and on the first night, tripped a circuit breaker and cut power to the entire house. Howard drove over at 10 p.m. on a Saturday and helped him get his power back on. Howard also made sure Meltzer’s name was on the cover of his books.
Howard himself was thrilled to be there in part because it was his 29th anniversary with his wife Lane and he had begun hunting for coupons to take her to dinner but “you took care of it!”
More seriously, he said his cheap persona is a “teaching mechanism.”
“People feel so powerless in their own lives now,” Howard said. “Everything I try to stress is bringing power to your life by living on less than what you make. That’s the core philosophy.”
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Tony Light
Photojournalist Tony Light has spent 46 years behind the camera at Channel 2 Action News (WSB-TV) and was distinctly uncomfortable being on stage speaking in front of a crowd.
“I am truly honored,” Light said. “This job turned out to be a dream. … When you let God drive the wheel, He will take care of you. I love my job. I love my co-workers even more.”
Light was there when WSB-TV received its first live truck and its first helicopter. He covered nearly every major news story out of Atlanta over the decades, from the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing to the 2020 George Floyd protests.
“I call him Tony ‘Shining’ Light because he often shines when the world around him crumbles,” said presenter and WSB-TV reporter Tom Jones. “I refer to him as Tony ‘Flashlight’ because where there is darkness, he often illuminates. In any room, he’s truly the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Jones, when he first joined WSB-TV, was sent on his first live shot at a protest. He had Light set up the live truck, lifting the mast and setting up his equipment. Then he realized he was in the wrong place and had to tell Light.
“He looked at me and calmly said, ‘It’s OK.” Even with deadline coming up, Light patiently put the gear back and the mast down and moved to the right spot without complaint. “I’m surprised we’re still friends today,” Jones said jokingly.
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Maria Saporta
Maria Saporta is one of the most well-connected business journalists in metro Atlanta, and she helped mold the Atlanta Press Club over multiple decades.
“There would not be the splendid Atlanta Press Club without 30 years of dynamic, active leadership of Maria Saporta,” said Tom Johnson, former CNN president, who was her presenter.
As a board member, Saporta convinced business leader Charles Loudermilk to endow the Atlanta Press Club political debate series to the tune of $1 million.
Saporta, a longtime business columnist for the AJC, now runs SaportaReport, an independent Atlanta-based news operation. She also brought former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin and Ambassador Andrew Young to the dinner.
On the dais, she asked various people in her lives to stand up including SaportaReport, Atlanta Press Club and AJC colleagues. By the end of her requests, more than half the room was standing. “If you’re sitting, that means there is more work to do,” she said.
“We have an obligation to cover our communities accurately, exposing what’s wrong and showcasing what’s working,” Saporta said. “That’s what I have tried to do for 44 years in this profession. It’s what SaportaReport has been aiming to do for nearly 16 years. For the next chapter in my life, I will focus on nurturing the next generation of journalists in Atlanta and beyond.”
Editor’s note: Rodney Ho is a board member for the Atlanta Press Club.
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