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Jim AmossEditorThe Times-Picayune,New Orleans

Aspirations forASNE

When I getdepressed about the state of the news-paper industry, I conjure up the imageof our city editor, David Meeks, holdinga bundle of freshly printed Times-Picayunes. Katrina had just destroyedNew Orleans. Meeks was standing infront of the city’s convention center,where the storm’s victims had huddledfor days without food, water or hope ofrescue. When they spotted the manwith the bundle, they mobbed him. Oldand young, black and white, theyswarmed around him, grabbing for apaper. Within minutes, they snatchedeach copy. Small groups gatheredaround the lucky possessors.

It’s been the experience of a lifetime:To watch the storm obliterate our circu-lation area, driving our readers, ouradvertisers and us into exile; to returnto a wasteland; to stitch together thecomplex fabric of a community and itsnewspaper habits at a time when thatfabric is fraying everywhere. In theprocess, we learned lessons about thevalue of daily newspapers and whythey still matter. We know we muststoke a voracious appetite for localnews big and small, listen to and ren-der local voices, expose local corrup-tion.

Despite the revolutionary change weare all experiencing, newspapers,whether in print or online, can stay rele-

vant to readers’ lives. Revolutionarychange, when you’re in the middle of it,is wrenching and disorienting. It’s moreimportant than ever for us tempest-tossed editors to be able to reflect onour mission, to have a venue to shareideas and to cull the best practicesfrom our collective transformation.ASNE is that venue. It should bring ustogether in common cause, help us tointegrate online and print, prod us todiversify our newsrooms and our cov-erage, give us tools to understand andreach our audiences, inspire us tochange newsroom cultures that arehistorically resistant to change, exposeus to the vanguard of journalistic think-ing. These are the challenges we faceand that ASNE can help us meet.

Career

Amoss began his career in 1974 as areporter at The States-Item, the after-noon daily of New Orleans, his home-town. In 1979, he received a fellowshipfrom Journalistes en Europe for a yearof study in Paris. On his return to NewOrleans, he worked as an investigativereporter for The Times-Picayune afterthe morning and afternoon papersmerged in 1980. He spent a week pac-ing up and down a Gulf Coast beachin 1982 before deciding to give upreporting and become a suburbanbureau chief for the New Orleanspaper. He held a succession of editingjobs — city editor, metro editor —before becoming editor of The Times-Picayune in 1990. In 1997, the NationalPress Foundation named him Editor ofthe year. He was E&P’s Editor of theyear in 2006. He serves on the Boardof Visitors of Louisiana StateUniversity’s Manship School of Mass

March 2008

Dear ASNE member:

The election for ASNE’s Board of Directors will be held during the annualconvention, April 13-16, in Washington. Polls will close at 4 p.m. on Tuesday,April 15, and a list of winners will be available as soon as the judges havetallied the votes. All members attending the convention are eligible to vote.*

Nine editors will vie for five, three-year-term seats on the board.

nn Jim Amoss, editor, The Times-Picayune, New Orleansnn Neil Brown, executive editor, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Timesnn Ellen M. Foley, editor, Wisconsin State Journal, Madisonnn Diana Fuentes, editor, Laredo (Texas) Morning Timesnn James A. Mallory, senior managing editor and vice president of news, The

Atlanta Journal-Constitutionnn Christopher Peck, editor, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.nn Glenn Proctor, executive editor, Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatchnn Carlos Sanchez, editor, Waco (Texas) Tribune-Heraldnn John Temple, editor, president and publisher, Rocky Mountain News,

Denver

Amoss, Foley and Peck are incumbents.

A brief bio, history of ASNE activities and the candidate’s aspirations for ASNEare included in this voter’s guide.

Please be sure to vote.

Best regards,

Scott BosleyExecutive Directorsbosley@asne.org

*Active members not attending the convention may vote by absentee ballot.Absentee ballots must be cast by April 10. Contact Chris Schmitt, 703-453-1128or cschmitt@asne.org for more information.

2 0 0 8 B O A R D C A N D I D A T E SCommunication and the board of theYale Alumni Magazine.

ASNE Activities

Amoss joined ASNE in 1990. He waselected to the board of directors in2005 for a three-year term. He hasserved on the Awards Board as well asthe Convention Program, Education forJournalism, Diversity and Nominationscommittees. Amoss has also served asan election judge and convention floormanager chair.

Neil BrownExecutive EditorSt. Petersburg (Fla.)Times

Aspirations forASNE

Whether it’s a pow-erful investigative series, a moving nar-rative, or an interactive Web site thatlets our readers explore our reportingon their own, distinctive journalism isstill the cornerstone of our news organ-izations and their financial potential.

And so ASNE should be an organiza-tion that motivates such work ratherthan laments the challenges to it. Itshould be an organization that embod-ies the characteristics of great news-rooms: energy and edge, smarts andoutrage, excitement and passion, asense of mission.

ASNE should lead the dialogue onbest practices in our newsrooms. Itshould lead the legal fight — and thepublic relations battle — against effortsto erode our First Amendment protec-

tions. It should be a clearinghouse forthe tools to do great journalism. AndASNE must tell our story — over andover with words and deeds — aboutwhy journalism matters in a freedemocracy.

ASNE is most effective as an organiza-tion that widens the horizons of itsmembers. ASNE should build on itsstrong relationships with the print,online and broadcast journalism institu-tions to sort out the thorniest issues weall face in serving a fragmented audi-ence. And it should direct substantialenergy toward bringing editors togeth-er with leaders and experts from non-journalistic fields, such as politics andbusiness.

By being smarter about the world out-side the newsroom — with ASNE’Shelp — we will be better innovatorsand managers in a fast-changingindustry. And along the way, we’ll findthe stories that make our journalismmeaningful and distinctive.

Career

Neil Brown was named executive editorand vice president of the St.Petersburg Times in August 2004.Brown served nine years as managingeditor and joined the Times PublishingCompany’s board in 1997 as a direc-tor. In 2001 he was elected a vice pres-ident of the newspaper’s parent, TimesPublishing Co. A native of Chicago,Brown joined the Times in 1993 over-seeing national and international affairsas World Editor after serving four yearsin Washington as managing editor ofCongressional Quarterly. CQ, an affili-ate of Times Publishing, produces aweekly magazine covering Congress

and national politics. Before joiningCQ, Brown spent eight years as areporter and editor at The MiamiHerald, covering government and poli-tics in Miami and at bureaus in KeyWest, Tallahassee and West PalmBeach. Brown is a current member ofthe Professional Advisory Board of theUniversity of Illinois School ofJournalism. Brown is past-president ofthe Florida Society of NewspaperEditors. A resident of St. Petersburg,Brown lives with his wife, journalist andauthor Gelareh Asayesh, and their twochildren.

ASNE Activites

Brown joined ASNE in 2000. He co-chaired The American EditorCommittee, was chair of theInternational Committee and is incom-ing chair of the Ethics and ValuesCommittee. He has also been on theFreedom of Information Committeeand has served as a floor managerand an ASNE Awards judge.

Ellen M.FoleyEditorWisconsin StateJournal, Madison

Aspirations for ASNE

The friendships I have made during thepast decade through ASNE havehelped sustain me. My hope for thisorganization is that editors everywherecan use the talent housed in our

organization to sustain our craft as wemove into a remarkable future.

The industry is well into the transition toonline journalism. Our jobs as editorsat this juncture involve balancing theold with the new as the businessmodel shifts. It’s very distracting work.

We can’t forget that as editors our topcommitment must be to serve ourcommunities. When I feel myself float-ing away to spreadsheets andspokesmodel duties, my friends inASNE pull me back to the core reasonI have spent 30 years re-creating theway we do business: We get to tell thetruth.

ASNE will continue to be a strong allyin that effort.

Career

Ellen Foley has worked at several largeand small newspaper companies dur-ing the past 30 years.

She is editor of the Wisconsin StateJournal and madison.com/wsj based inMadison, Wis.

She formerly was managing editor atthe Philadelphia Daily News and anassistant managing editor at TheKansas City (Mo.) Star.

She also has worked at theMinneapolis Star Tribune, the DetroitNews and the Milwaukee Sentinel. Shestarted her career at the now-defunct10,000-circulation Herald-Leader inMenominee, Mich.

Foley served as a director of theAssociated Press Managing Editors.

She is a board member and past-pres-ident of Youth Services, Inc., the chari-

2 0 0 8 B O A R D C A N D I D A T E Stable arm of the Wisconsin StateJournal. She advises the University ofWisconsin-Madison School ofJournalism and Mass Communicationas a member of its board of visitors.

Foley and her husband, Tom, live inMadison and have spent the past threeyears resisting the urge to purchaseBirkenstocks, granny glasses andBucky Badger flags for the car.

ASNE Activities

Foley has been a member of ASNEsince 1998. She has served on theboard twice and was elected in 2007for a one-year term. She is currentlyco-chair of The American EditorCommittee and has chaired the con-vention floor managers. Foley has alsoserved on the Convention Program,Coverage and Content, CraftDevelopment, Interactive Media,Management and Human Resources,and Readership Issues committees.

DianaFuentesEditorLaredo (Texas)Morning Times

Aspirations for ASNE

My primary goal is ensuring publicaccess to records. In these often darkdays, when the government is seekingto keep more and more informationaway from the people, it’s imperativethat ASNE use its power to protect ajournalist’s right — and responsibility

— to serve as the eyes and ears of thepublic. In addition, ASNE must contin-ue to help its members diversify theirnewsrooms to ensure we each remaina viable source of accurate, balancedinformation for our respective commu-nities. And we must continue to helpour members learn how to best use theInternet.

Career

A second-generation Texan whose firstlanguage was Spanish, Fuentes grewup in Laredo on the Texas-Mexico bor-der.

Fuentes started her journalism careeron the copy desk at the Laredo Newsin 1977 and was hired at rival LaredoMorning Times as a police reporter in1979. She has since reported and edit-ed at several newspapers, includingthe Del-Rio News Herald, San AntonioLight, San Antonio Express-News andThe Beaumont Enterprise. At theExpress-News, she was the firstwoman and first minority to serve onthe Editorial Board. At The BeaumontEnterprise, she was the first womanand minority to serve as managing edi-tor.

She became editor of the LaredoMorning Times in May 2004, the firstwoman to hold the post in the paper’s125-year history.

Fuentes is a member of the board ofthe Freedom of Information Foundationof Texas and is active in the NationalAssociation of Hispanic Journalists,among other organizations. She haspreviously served on the NAHJ board,including winning national election assecretary and treasurer.

ASNE Activities

Fuentes joined ASNE in 2007. She ischair of the Small NewspapersCommittee and a member of TheAmerican Editor Committee.

James A.MallorySenior ManagingEditor and V.P. /NewsThe AtlantaJournal-Constitution

Aspirations for ASNE

Most newspaper editors are spendingtheir time today managing smallernewsrooms and the transition from astrictly print to multimedia platforms.

As our industry evolves, it is equallyimportant for editors to spearhead theeffort to define what journalism lookslike in 21st century newsrooms. Wemust also develop diverse, forwardlooking, leadership who can challengeand inspire newsroom staffs to prac-tice their craft with excellence in thisever changing environment. Newsroomleadership has to encourage its staff toembrace change, to move away from“but this is how it has always beendone.”

As we navigate the change, we have todevelop innovative ways to satisfy ouraudiences’ desire for, and expectationof, journalism that looks out for theirinterests. Innovative storytelling andpresentation is necessary because ournews holes are tighter and the online

audience is less likely to spend a lot oftime with long-form traditional journal-ism.

At the same time we have to be dili-gent about producing journalism thatdoes not reinforce the perception thatwe are biased in our newsgatheringand reporting efforts.

And, in the end, we cannot neglect thestories about the triumphs and travailsof those who do not fit into our target-ed reader/audience demographics.

The answers may be as unique aseach newspaper market, but ASNEmust play a role in facilitating the dis-cussion around the future of newsgath-ering and reporting in the 21st century.

Career

Mallory is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the newsroom of TheAtlanta Journal-Constitution, includingadministration, personnel and produc-tion. He also oversees the launching ofstrategic initiatives in the newsroomand is liaison to the newspaper’s busi-ness side.

A 19-year veteran at the AJC, Malloryhas had numerous roles at the news-paper, including managing editor/oper-ations and initiatives, deputy managingeditor in charge of local and businessnews, assistant managing editor lead-ing the paper’s business news cover-age, and assistant managing editorsupervising the newsroom night opera-tions.

Mallory worked as the AJC’s news per-sonnel manager responsible for recruit-ing, hiring and internships. He alsoworked as an assistant business editor

2 0 0 8 B O A R D C A N D I D A T E Sand business reporter, joining the AJCin 1988.

Mallory has worked as a reporter andassistant business editor at newspa-pers in Detroit, Grand Rapids, andLansing, Mich.

He is a member of several journalismorganizations and advisory boards,including serving as a long-time mem-ber of the board for Florida A&MSchool of Journalism & GraphicCommunications.

ASNE Activities

A member of ASNE since 2002,Mallory has served on the ConventionProgram and Diversity committees, aswell as chaired the convention floormanagers.

Chris PeckEditorThe CommercialAppeal, Memphis

Aspirations forASNE

Let’s have ASNE leadthe change to a new model for 21stcentury newsrooms. Let’s have ASNEmake the case that journalism’s bestdays are ahead. Let’s have ASNE helpeditors understand what they need todo to reshape news-gathering teams inways that take advantage of the digitaltools and changing economics of ourprofession.

Now is a time for ASNE to help editorslook ahead. Now is the time for ASNE tohelp editors passionately engage with

communities. Now is the time, honestly,for ASNE to give editors the courageand creative ideas needed to break themold, rethink the business, and matchup the right people with the right jobs inthe newsroom. I want to help ASNE dothis, so that journalism will prosper.

Career

Chris Peck, 57, is editor of TheCommercial Appeal in Memphis, whichwas cited as best newspaper inTennessee in 2007.

He is a past president of AssociatedPress Managing Editors, founder of theCredibility Roundtables Project and con-tinues to work as an organizer for theJournalism That Matters Collaborative.

His book, “A Good Life in the InlandNorthwest” was published while hewas editor of The Spokesman-Reviewin Spokane.

He is married to Kate Duignan, andthey have two children, two cats, and adog. Cody is a University of Memphisstudent. Sarah is a Harvard DivinitySchool graduate living in Boston.Thecats and the dog are living uneasily inthe same backyard, listening to accor-dion music coming from somewhereinside the house.

ASNE Activities

A member since 1987, Peck was elect-ed to the board in 2005 for a three-year-term and currently chairs theAudience Development Committee. Hehas been a co-chair of The AmericanEditor and has chaired the Ethics andValues and Wire Content committees.Peck has also served on the AwardsBoard, Convention Program, FOI,

Leadership, Nominations, and PrisonJournalism committees and been aconvention floor manager.

GlennProctorExecutive EditorRichmond (Va.)Times-Dispatch

Aspirations for ASNE

ASNE, the leading journalism industryorganization, is shaping the future ofmedia in America. I want to be part ofthat effort.

We must uphold the standards of greatdaily and watchdog journalism — printand online — but also be profitable.

And since no one has really developedthe information delivery model for long-term success, it’s a work in progress.

I am part of that conversation at theRichmond Times-Dispatch and withinMedia General, but want to play amajor role in the industry conversationand conversion.

Our industry is now out of its comfortzone. Change is not the future, it isnow.

ASNE is the leader and has to lead theconversation of change in media con-tent and delivery, while making sure theindustry upholds the tenets of journal-ism, the First Amendment and diversity.

Career

Glenn Proctor, a journalist for overthree decades, is vice president andexecutive editor of the RichmondTimes-Dispatch, a position he has heldsince November 2005.

Previously, he was an associate editorat The Star-Ledger, Newark. He wasalso the newspaper’s assistant manag-ing editor/local news and city editor.

Before joining the Ledger, Proctor wasassistant managing editor/metro at theRochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle,night metro editor and business editorat The Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journaland a suburban reporter, businessreporter and night metro editor at theAkron (Ohio) Beacon Journal. He wasalso a reporter and city editor at theQuad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa.

While in Ohio, Proctor was an adjunctjournalism professor at Kent StateUniversity for several years. In the late’80s, he also created a series of diver-sity and management workshops thathe continues to present around thecountry.

At the Beacon Journal, Proctor waspart of the team that won the PulitzerPrize in 1987 for coverage of theGoodyear takeover.

Proctor was a reporter at United PressInternational in Philadelphia andworked as a press secretary for formerU.S. Rep. Dan Mica of Florida. Hebegan his career as a reporter for theDaily Local News in West Chester, Pa.

A frequent speaker around the countryon journalism careers, managementand motivation, Proctor is a national

2 0 0 8 B O A R D C A N D I D A T E Sboard member of the Oakland-basedMaynard Institute of JournalismEducation. He also serves on thenational advisory boards of the KentState University School of Journalismand the American Press Institute. Hepreviously served on the board of theAssociated Press Managing Editors.

He is a mentor to dozens of journalistsand other career professionals aroundthe country.

Proctor received the NationalAssociation of Black JournalistsLegacy Award last year.

As a Marine and Vietnam veteran,Proctor spent six years on active dutyand six years as a reservist, leaving theCorps as a gunnery sergeant.

His activities include reading and writ-ing poetry, playing basketball, travelingand staying active.

ASNE Activities

Proctor joined ASNE in 2007. He is amember of the ASNE Awards Boardand Craft Development Committee.

CarlosSanchezEditorWaco (Texas) Tribune-Herald

Aspirations for ASNE

The challenges of the newspaperindustry today demand strong leader-ship and a strong supporting role by

such organizations as ASNE. I believethis organization has a unique opportu-nity to influence the direction of ourindustry by being a repository of bestpractices, new editorial ideas and intel-lectual firepower.

I would be honored to help facilitatesuch a role as a board member forASNE by adding a distinctive voice onbehalf of our nation’s community news-papers.

The legacy of our generation of journal-ists will be one of change and some ofthe most innovative change hasoccurred at community newspapers.Too often, our industry tends to look tothe major metro newspapers for newideas. I believe the community news-papers have just as much, if not more,to offer. I vow to give our communitynewspapers a strong voice in thisimportant organization.

Career

In December 2001, Carlos Sanchezbecame the 5th editor of the Waco(Texas) Tribune-Herald since 1917. Anative Texan, Sanchez grew up in ElPaso.

The Tribune-Herald is the sixth news-room he has worked in during his 24-year career. He has also worked innewsrooms in Colorado, El Paso,Austin and in Washington, D.C., wherehe worked seven years for TheWashington Post.

ASNE Activities

Sanchez has been a member since2007. He is on the ASNE AwardsBoard.

JohnTempleEditor, President andPublisherRocky MountainNews, Denver

Aspirations for ASNE

I’ve been editor of the Rocky MountainNews for 10 years. In that time, my jobhas changed to the point where I’m notsure my predecessor would even rec-ognize it. Yes, news judgment andpeople skills still matter, as do budgetsand public speaking. But the reality isthat I now spend roughly half my timeworking on Web-related issues. Somefear today’s changes spell the end ofnewspapers. I don’t believe that. But Iam concerned about the future of jour-nalism. I see ASNE having a key role inmaking the case for journalism valuesand for why editing matters in an unfil-tered world.

Career

I took a long and winding road to landin my first newsroom at the age of 30.Tree planter. Ordinary seaman. Loghouse builder. Construction worker.Farmhand. Hawker. Taxi driver. The listgoes on.

I had always loved writing. But itseemed I had to try everything elsebefore I could find my home. In mythird year of architecture school at theUniversity of Toronto, I decided to starta newspaper, “The Column.” The titlewasn’t original, but the experiencetaught me that I was far happier string-

ing words together than drawing bath-room details.

It took awhile, but I finally found myway into the newsroom of theKalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette as anintern, and then the late-AlbuquerqueTribune and Toronto Star as a reporter.

I’ve been blessed to work early in mycareer with editors and professors whoshaped who I am today. I hope I’vedone the same as an editor inAlbuquerque and at the RockyMountain News. I know how lucky I amto be doing this work. It’s not a job. I’vehad too many of those.

ASNE Activities

Temple has been a member since1998. He chaired the election judgesand has been a convention floor man-ager. Temple has also been a memberof the Ethics and Values and Freedomof Information committees.