ASNE 2012 Board Candidates Announced

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 03/07/2012 10:28:00
• In: ASNE elections

The ASNE nominating committee recently selected eight candidates to run for five three-year terms on the ASNE Board of Directors. The candidates are as follows:

• Nancy Barnes, editor, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
• Marcus Brauchli, executive editor, The Washington Post
• Mike Connelly, executive editor, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
• Stephen Engelberg, managing editor, ProPublica
• Manny Garcia, executive editor, El Nuevo Herald
• Mizell Stewart III, VP/Content, Newspaper Division, E.W. Scripps Co.
• Margaret Sullivan, editor, Buffalo News
• Robyn Tomlin, executive editor, Star-News (Wilmington, NC)

Stewart and Sullivan are incumbents running for their second term on the board.

The candidates bios and statements will be posted on the ASNE website next week, and online voting is scheduled to begin on Monday, March 19. The electronic polls will close on Friday, March 30. Members who did not vote online will be given the opportunity to vote in person at ASNEs annual convention, which will be held in Washington, April 2-4.

The election will close on Tuesday, April 3, and the winners will be announced that evening.

I'd like to work with ASNE to bring members and their expertise together to help forge a path that embraces the best of what traditional journalism has to offer with all the innovations of the digital age (as fast as possible). We must continue to evolve and change, and to embrace social media, aggregation, and new platforms and tools. But none of that can be a substitute for original quality content in all its myriad forms. If elected to the board, I will be a champion for both content and for innovation.

Nancy Barnes has been the editor and senior vice president of the Star Tribune Media Company since 2007. She is responsible for directing a newsroom staff of about 270 and for overseeing content across all platforms and news products including the daily paper, website, mobile platforms and niche products. Since becoming editor, she has merged separate digital and print staffs into one fully integrated newsroom, and helped launch a suite of digital products including a redesigned website, preps high school sports sites and apps for smart phones and tablets.

Barnes joined the Star Tribune in 2003 as assistant managing editor for business. In 2005, she was promoted to deputy managing editor for content, with responsibility for local news, business, investigations, Sunday and enterprise. Prior to joining the Star Tribune, she held several editing positions at the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, including Sunday and Enterprise editor. Early in her career, she was a reporter and/or editor at a number of smaller papers including the Lowell Sun, the Free Lance Star and the Daily Press.

Barnes has been a member of ASNE since 2007. She has served on the following ASNE committees: News Literacy (2010-11), Technology (2010-11), Ethics and Values (2009-10), Leadership Development (2010-11) and Innovation (2009-10).

By now, the challenges newsrooms face feel a little monotonous: ebbing print readership and fickle digital audiences, the infinite complexity imposed by technology, amoral and ruthless competitors around pretty much every corner, and a let's-kill-all-the-landlords revolution afoot in our business model. Too often left out of the conversation is our journalism. ASNE's leadership should ensure that we're still talking about the crucial role journalists play and strong journalism serves in our society, whatever the platform, whatever the medium, whatever the business pressures. Together, we can help each other adapt faster to the challenges and keep a central focus on the journalism.

Marcus Brauchli became executive editor of The Washington Post on Sept. 8, 2008.

He oversees both The Post's print and digital news operations, which are fully integrated. The Post's award-winning newsroom is among the most innovative at producing news and features on different platforms. Brauchli reports to Publisher Katharine Weymouth.

Previously, Brauchli had served as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, overseeing the Journal news operations both in the U.S. and internationally. He spent much of his career as a foreign correspondent for the paper in Asia and Europe. He was based in Hong Kong, Stockholm, Tokyo and Shanghai. He returned to New York and was named national editor in 1999, before becoming global news editor, deputy managing editor and then managing editor.

He was a 1991-92 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He is on the board of the International Center for Journalists, and is an advisor to the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship program at Columbia. He also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the New York Economic Club.

Marcus Brauchli has been an ASNE member since 2011.

We all are faced with reinventing the news business -- keeping print vital, finding the magic mix that makes our digital news a big enough money-maker to support robust newsrooms. ASNE can help us find the way, spotlighting what's new, what works, what failed and why. The faster we collectively invent the future of news, the sooner we can focus on what we love -- great stories, big scoops, hot investigations and generally causing trouble for those who would rather work in the dark.

Mike Connelly is executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Florida's Gulf coast. He started his career in 1981 at The Wall Street Journal, working in New York, Miami and Chicago. In 1989, he moved to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn., where he was executive business editor, then metro editor. In 1995, he moved to The Baltimore Sun as regional editor.

In 1997, Connelly joined Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., where he was vice president for operations, then vice president for product development. He has been at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune since 2004 and serves on the boards of the Florida Society of News Editors and the Florida First Amendment Foundation.

Connelly has been an ASNE member since 2004. He served as a judge in the ASNE Writing Awards (2007-08, 2010-11), and he served on the American Editor committee (co- vice chair, 2007-08). He was also a convention floor manager in 2005.

I am running for the ASNE board because my work at national papers, metro dailies and at a web startup has given me a unusually broad perspective on the challenges and possibilities we face as an industry. ASNE has made great strides in the past years toward becoming more relevant but I believe still more can be achieved. Collaboration across platforms and organizations has been a hallmark of ProPublica's journalism. I believe ASNE can play a bigger role in fostering creative uses of ever-shrinking resources.

Stephen Engelberg has been the managing editor of ProPublica, the non-profit investigative newsroom, since its inception in 2008. In that post, he has been involved in every aspect of building the organization, from day-to-day management to the long-term planning of web and development strategy. Before joining ProPublica, Engelberg was a managing editor of The Oregonian in Portland.

He began his career at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., and worked for The New York Times for 18 years, including stints in Washington, D.C., and Warsaw, Poland, and New York. He has focused for the past two decades on investigative reporting and editing, creating The New York Times investigative unit and supervising projects at The Oregonian. He was part of The New York Times team whose stories on the rise of al Qaeda (published beginning in January 2001) were awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

A member of ASNE since 2008, Engelberg was a member of the Freedom of Information committee (2008-09), and he served as a convention floor manager in 2011.

To be part of a team focused on the strategic growth and health of our industry. My mission is also to identify, recruit, equip and train the next generation of leaders. I believe in the critical need to diversify leadership and groom talent, as our demographics continue to change. I am a conduit to attract new members and ideas. As IRE President and member of its Executive Committee, I collaborate with other journalism organizations and universities world-wide to inspire talented journalists to change their communities. I will do the same for ASNE. I believe in journalism. And I, most certainly, believe in our future.

Manny Garcia is executive editor and general manager of El Nuevo Herald, the most influential Spanish-language newspaper and website in the hemisphere.

Under his watch, El Nuevo Herald has grown daily home delivery circulation year-over-year, and combined with elnuevoherald.com its reach has been among the fastest growing in the U.S. Manny also created business plans that generated more than $250,000 in new revenue. At the same time, he restructured the newsroom, emphasizing local watchdog, enterprise and breaking news reporting. The move boosted not only newspaper sales, but online, mobile and social media traffic.

Last year, El Nuevo Herald became the first Spanish-language newspaper to be named a Pulitzer finalist with The Miami Herald for its coverage of the Haiti earthquake disaster.

Prior to joining El Nuevo Herald, Manny served in senior leadership roles at The Miami Herald, including managing editor and metropolitan editor, where he helped direct Pulitzer Prize-winning projects and led the newsroom's transformation to better serve its online needs. He was also a member of The Herald's investigative team; his reporting has ousted public officials and changed laws in Florida. He's known as "Father Manny" because he gets people to confess to all kinds of malfeasance.

He is currently President of Investigative Reporters and Editors and has served on its Executive Committee for six years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Florida Society of News Editors. Manny also teaches investigative reporting, is a mentor to young executives and recruits for both newsrooms, as well as the McClatchy Company.

Garcia has been an ASNE member since 2011.

As the ways people receive news and information evolve, the American Society of News Editors is evolving as well. Our aspiration is simple -- to make ASNE the premier organization for news industry leaders through innovative programs, creative partnerships and a can't-miss annual convention. The local news organizations formerly referred to as newspapers are continually being challenged to transform themselves into four or even five-platform information hubs, delivering superior journalism in print, on smartphones, web sites, tablets, even broadcast. My vision is for ASNE to be a trusted resource, grounded in the ethics and values we hold dear, as the industry marches forward.

Mizell Stewart III is vice president/content of the newspaper division of the E.W. Scripps Company, focusing on content strategy and journalism excellence. His team includes more than 700 journalists at 14 local news organizations, including the Naples (Fla.) Daily News, The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn. and the Ventura County Star in California. His newsroom leadership experience includes serving as editor of the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press, editor of the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat and managing editor of the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal.

Stewart joined ASNE in 2004 and has served as a member of the board of directors for the last three years. He also has served on the ASNE Awards Board (2009-10, 2010-11), as well as the following committees: Online (co-chair, 2010-11), Diversity (2009-10), FOI (2008-09), Leadership Development (co-chair, 2011-12) and Craft Development (2005-06). In addition, he has served as a convention floor manager in 2011.

Good journalism is more important than ever before -- and it is under siege as never before. ASNE's core mission is to support that journalism, fight for First Amendment rights, and help news leaders make the transition to a sustainable future. We have our work cut out for us, but the work is crucial. I want to keep putting my energy and drive behind that effort as a member of ASNE's board.

Margaret M. Sullivan is the first woman to serve as editor of The Buffalo News in its 131-year history, after being the paper's first female managing editor. As editor, Sullivan established The News' first investigative team, helped develop Western New York's leading website, BuffaloNews.com, and has emphasized enterprise reporting. In 2001, Sullivan was given the additional title of vice president, another first for a woman at The News.

Under her leadership, The News has been honored by the New York News Publishers Association for the last eight years with its award for Distinguished Community Service.

After her internship at The News in 1980, she joined the staff. Her career has included assignments as a reporter on business, education and government, metro columnist, assistant city editor, and assistant managing editor for features.

Nationally, Sullivan's recent writings include an essay in the anthology "The Edge of Change: Women in the 21st Century Press." She has written for Columbia Journalism Review, Washington Monthly, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

An ASNE member since 1999, Sullivan is a current member of the ASNE Board. She also has served on the ASNE Awards Board (2009-10, 2010-11), as well as the following committees: First Amendment (co-chair, 2009-10), American Editor (2000-01, 2001-02), Freedom of Information (2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06), Diversity (2001-02), Ethics and Values (2000-01) and Leadership Development (2010-11). In addition, she served as a convention floor manager in 2011.

Simply put, I would like to be a voice for small and mid-sized newsroom leaders. ASNE is in a state of dramatic change. For many years, the organization has served the interests of our nation's daily newspapers extremely well. While there has always been board representation from small and mid-sized newsrooms, ASNE has long been perceived as a "big paper" organization. For years, I've heard ASNE leadership talk of broadening the membership base and working to better serve news organizations of all sizes. The board's decision to change the dues structure to make membership more affordable for editors of smaller news organizations was a major step in the right direction. I'd like to see ASNE continue this more inclusive trend as the organization reshapes itself and its future mission. I believe I could play a key role in helping to make this happen.

Robyn Tomlin is executive editor of the StarNews in Wilmington. Over the last decade, she has served in leadership roles at small and mid-sized newspapers across the Southeast.

Tomlin started her career as a reporter at the North Hills News Record in suburban Pittsburgh. She later worked in reporting and editing roles at the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times before serving as managing editor and later executive editor of the TimesDaily in Florence, Ala. She then served as executive editor of the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner for three years before moving to Wilmington in 2008 to assume her current role.

In 2010, Tomlin was named director of content innovation for the New York Times Regional Media Group, a position she held, along with her role as executive editor in Wilmington, until NYTRMG was purchased by Halifax Media Group in January. In that role, she worked with journalists at 15 news organizations in six states on audience growth and digital content innovation efforts.

Under her leadership, the StarNews has won dozens of state and national journalism awards, including the 2009 Knight-Batten Award for Journalistic Innovation in Civic Media. Tomlin has served in leadership roles with journalism organizations in Alabama, Florida and North Carolina, including the Florida Society of News Editors, the Alabama Center for Open Government, the Alabama APME board and the Alabama Press Association Foundation. She was recently elected secretary/treasurer of the North Carolina Press Association.

Tomlin has been a member of ASNE since 2004 and has served on the following committees: Ethics and Values (2009-10, 2010-11), First Amendment (2009-10, 2010-11), Small Newspapers (2004-05, 2009-10, 2010-11), Innovation (2009-10) and Readership Issues (2004-05).