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The late Margie Fisher, a pioneering political reporter and later an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times, will get inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame next month in Richmond. Fisher, who retired in 2001 after more than 40 years at The Roanoke Times, died two years ago.

“In the mid-1970s, she and a handful of other women staged an invasion of Richmond as the first who covered state politics and the legislature full time,” her longtime-colleague and friend Cody Lowe wrote in her obituary.

Fisher is one of 14 people who will get inducted on April 12 at the John Marshall in downtown Richmond. According to a news release from Virginia Commonwealth University, the other 2012 inductees are:

Hampden H. Smith, III, Washington and Lee University professor emeritus, who has a 40-year career in newsrooms and in journalism education in Virginia, nationally and internationally. Smith taught journalists in Eastern Europe’s emerging democracies about the responsibilities of a free press and was an early advocate of training student journalists in several news platforms simultaneously.

Robert Dementi, Dementi Photography, (posthumous) who helped lead his father’s longtime photography business into its greatest period of growth in the 1940s and 1950s and who became a noted photographer himself, gaining election to the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain.

Trafton Robertson, Norfolk radio broadcaster, (posthumous) who launched his career at Norfolk’s WTAR and was the station’s longtime morning announcer. He was best known for efforts to serve underprivileged children at Christmas and Easter. He also announced race results on WTAR-TV, now WTKR.

Michael Salster, newspaper publisher/editor, public relations consultant, corporate and political communications director and Virginia human resources executive, (posthumous) who was an award-winning reporter for the Columbus-Dispatch and was co-owner and editor of the former Amelia Bulletin Monitor newspaper.

Mike Allen, chief White House correspondent, Politico.com, who previously served as the White House correspondent for Time magazine and spent six years at the Washington Post, where he wrote about national political issues. Allen, profiled in a 2010 New York Times story titled “The Man the White House Wakes Up To,” has been described as the most powerful or most important journalist in the capital.

Brad Armstrong, advertising executive at the Martin Agency, who is recognized as a national leader in the field of advertising and manages, Walmart, the largest account ever to be handled by the Martin Agency. He also is active in civic organizations and served as president of the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation from 2001-2005.

Bob Griggs, “Sailor Bob,” retired broadcast journalist with WWBT-TV (formerly WRVA-TV), who hosted daily, and sometimes twice-daily, programs for children from 1959 into the 1970s and was the station’s first weatherman from 1969-1971. As “Sailor Bob,” he went on to host other educational programs such as the “Noodle Club” and “Metric Marmalade.”

William C. Hall, Jr., vice president of executive communications for Dominion Resources, was a reporter with the Danville Register and later became the paper’s managing editor, the youngest managing editor in Virginia at the time. He has served in a number of communications roles at Dominion and is active in civic groups.

James Raper, retired award-winning Virginian-Pilot journalist and communications manager, who served for 20 years at Virginia’s largest newspaper, most recently as managing editor, and has served in a number of faculty roles and university communications positions. He has been the writer/editor of “The Humble Steward,” a syndicated wine column since 1992.

Sabrina Squire, news anchor, WWBT, who began her career in 1981 as a reporter before becoming anchor in 1984, contributing to the station’s ratings growth and success. Squire hosts the “Acts of Kindness” segment, in which she helps viewers to “pay it forward” by giving $300 to someone facing financial hardship or using their resources to help the community.

Tyler Whitley, retired Richmond Times-Dispatch journalist, who enjoyed a 50-year print journalism career that began at the former Richmond News Leader and continued when he became a political reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He covered 14 national political conventions and nine Virginia governors.

Michael Whitlow, award-winning executive vice president, CRT/tanaka public relations, who leads the firm’s corporate practice and has contributed to the firm’s reputation as the largest Virginia-headquartered PR/Marketing firm. He has been a leader of the Public Relations Society of America and participated in regional mentoring programs and community non-profit groups.

H.Graham Woodlief, retired Media General COO, who oversaw the publishing division’s growth from three daily newspapers to 25 daily newspapers and 150 weeklies and other periodicals, while nearly doubling annual revenue. He is a trustee at Southern Production Programs, Inc., a newspaper training and labor relations group.