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Karpel named next executive director of ASNE

Richard Karpel has been selected as the next executive director of the American Society of News Editors.

RESTON, Va. — Richard Karpel has been selected as the next executive director of the American Society of News Editors.

“Richard Karpel brings a distinguished record of leadership of nonprofit media associations to our organization," said ASNE President Martin Kaiser. "The selection committee was particularly impressed with his significant accomplishments building the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He brings a wealth of experience dealing with the many challenges ASNE faces as we work to grow our association."

Karpel, 50, has been in association management for more than 20 years, since 1995 as executive director of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Karpel will join ASNE on Dec. 1 and assume responsibilities of the executive director in January, succeeding Scott Bosley, who has served nearly eleven years in the position and announced his retirement earlier this year.

“I am thrilled to have been selected as the executive director of the preeminent association of newsroom leaders,” said Karpel. “I look forward to doing great things and having some fun at ASNE.”

Karpel has been active in freedom of information issues through his involvement with the Sunshine in Government Initiative. AAN and ASNE are two of the founding members of the organization, which promotes open-government policies.

He helped to foster an editorial culture at AAN, working closely with the association's members to upgrade the quality of the organization's programming and services. During Karpel's tenure, AAN created a highly respected journalism contest, launched an annual writers workshop at the Medill School of Journalism, and established a nonprofit foundation to fund diversity-internship grants and a summer residency program at Medill designed to train minority journalists. He also founded a program of collaborative projects leading to coordinated national and local coverage of important issues in dozens of papers.

Karpel promoted engagement with the Web from the moment he joined AAN, encouraging the association and its member companies to aggressively pursue opportunities in electronic publishing.

It is also widely recognized within AAN that Karpel brought stability and financial discipline to the organization, and fostered cohesion and unity of purpose in the membership.

“I simply cannot imagine a better executive director for ASNE than Richard,” said Mark Zusman, president of AAN and editor of Willamette Week in Portland, Ore. “He is committed to the principles of journalism, understands how valuable associations can be if operated correctly and is always thinking ahead. ASNE is lucky to have him.”

Prior to working at AAN, Karpel was executive vice president for the Video Software Dealers Association, originally joining VSDA while it was still part of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he majored in business administration, and he received a juris doctorate degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Karpel will be the fifth person to head ASNE's staff. The Society was founded in 1922 and hired its first staff member in 1936.

Karpel was chosen by the ASNE officers and unanimously approved by the Board of Directors. In addition to Kaiser, editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the officers are Milton Coleman, senior editor, The Washington Post, vice president; Ken Paulson, president and chief operating officer, Freedom Forum, secretary; and Susan Goldberg, editor, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, treasurer.

ASNE is active in a number of areas of interest to top editors with priorities on freedom of information, diversity, readership and credibility of news organizations. ASNE changed its name in April 2009 to the American Society of News Editors and approved broadening its membership to editors of online news providers and academic leaders.

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