College of Arts and Sciences alumnae, Pamela Powers Hannley (1973, BA, journalism) and Jessica Wilt (2002, MFA, dance) were two of eight citizen journalists selected from around the country to participate in Huffington Post’s OffTheBus– a citizen-based reporting project – whose mission is to cover the 2012 political conventions in a distinctively “un-Beltway point-of-view.”

Wilt is currently blogging from the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Tampa, Florida. Hannley will be covering the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina beginning Sunday, September 2.

Wilt, a native of Dublin, Ohio, began her career as a dancer and musician where she eventually realized she wanted to contribute to the arts world not just as a performer, but as an educator, arts administrator and advocate. She earned a BA in modern dance with a dance education emphasis from the University of South Florida and an MFA in choreography from Ohio State.

Wilt is director of arts education for Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana in New York City. Actively involved in arts and education advocacy, she is a member of the board of directors for the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, a VOICE Charter School Board Trustee and sits on the Arts Education Council with Americans for the Arts where she is a guest ARTSblog contributor. Previously, Wilt served as the education and outreach manager for Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Dancing Through Barriers program.

Follow Wilt http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/hp_blogger_Jessica+Wilt.
You can also follow Wilt on Twitter @JessicaLWilt

Hannley’s journey to the DNC is 40 years in the making. As a journalism student at Ohio State, Hannley, then Pamela Powers, covered the 1972 McGovern-Shriver race for the Lantern, Ohio State’s student newspaper. A self-described political junkie even then – she grew up in a working class household in Amherst, Ohio – she wrote about campus campaign activities, traveled in the press bus with national media, and covered the student delegates to the 1972 DNC. But, she never got as far as Miami, the site of the 1972 DNC.

“I wanted to go to Miami in the worst way but there was no money to send students to a convention and I couldn’t afford to pay my own way,” said Hannley.

Forty years later, Hannley is thrilled to be in Charlotte, North Carolina covering the DNC. This time, as one of a handful of bloggers from around the country chosen by the Huffington Post to go to a convention to tell the stories that mainstream media miss – the ones that slip through the convention halls, both inside and out.

Hannley writes the Tucson Progressive blog on the TucsonCitizen.com and contributes articles to the Huffington Post and Salon.com., blog for Arizona, PDATucson.blogspot.com. She has had more than 30 years of experience in written, visual, and electronic communication—including freelance writing, photography, graphic design, and consulting. She is the managing editor of an international medical research journal.

Hannley received her BA in journalism from Ohio State in 1973 and a masters’ degree in public health from the University of Arizona. She is a native of Amherst, Ohio but has lived in Tucson since 1981.

Follow Hannley at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-powers-hannley/. She is also on Twitter, @p2hannley; her videos from the DNC can be viewed, on YouTube, at http://www.youtube.com/user/dancepartner30