Arkansas Press Women (APW) has named Richard Plotkin as the recipient of its inaugural Distinguished Service Award, created to recognize and celebrate individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service and leadership within the communications industry, particularly in Arkansas.
A dedicated member of APW since 2013, Plotkin currently serves as the organization’s treasurer and state contest co-director, helping to organize hundreds of entries, judges, and awards each year to recognize Arkansas’s top journalists and communicators.
Plotkin has also played a key role in the development and continued funding of the Charlotte Schexnayder Journalism Internship, a summer program managed by the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Arkansas Press Association. The internship provides financial support for a journalism student to complete a summer internship at The Dumas Clarion. Funding is provided by APW, Merchants & Farmers Bank, and the Dumas Chamber of Commerce, where Schexnayder once served as president.
The internship honors Charlotte Schexnayder, one of APW’s earliest members, a former APW president, and president of the National Federation of Press Women from 1977 to 1979. Schexnayder and her husband, Melvin, published The Dumas Clarion for 44 years. She passed away in 2020 at the age of 96.
At the national level, Plotkin often assists his wife, Helen Plotkin, in her busy role as national contest director for the National Federation of Press Women. Plotkin often serves as judge and committee member for NFPW.
“I am grateful and surprised to have received this award,” Plotkin said. “It is my privilege to work with the members of APW and NFPW. Their professionalism and talent are an inspiration to me.”
In addition to his work with APW and NFPW, Plotkin is deeply committed to supporting literacy in his community. He chairs the Conway Kiwanis Bookcase Project, which promotes the importance of early literacy by providing preschool children with a personalized bookcase, a starter kit of age-appropriate books, and a “reading buddy” — a stuffed animal that asks to be read to by its recipient.
Plotkin received the Distinguished Service Award during APW’s annual awards ceremony on June 21 at Central Baptist College in Conway, celebrating the winners of the 2025 APW Professional Communications Contest. In his honor, APW will make a donation to the Conway Kiwanis Bookcase Project. Dwain Hebda of Little Rock, president of Ya!Mule Wordsmiths, Inc. and winner of the 2025 APW Sweepstakes Award, generously made a matching donation for the project.
“Richard’s dedication to APW and his broader community truly embodies the spirit of service we seek to recognize with this award,” APW President Angie Faller said. “Through his leadership, mentorship, and tireless commitment to journalism and literacy, he has made a lasting difference in our organization and across Arkansas. We are proud to honor him with this inaugural award.”