Diversity leadership award winners named

09.29.04

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Bennie Ivory, executive editor of The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., talks with City Editor Jean Porter.

Bennie Ivory, executive editor and vice president for news at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., and Susan Ihne, executive editor of the St. Cloud (Minn.) Times, have been named winners of the third annual Robert G. McGruder Awards for Diversity Leadership.

The two will be honored for their outstanding leadership in newsroom diversity at the Associated Press Managing Editors association (APME) convention Oct. 13-16 in Louisville.

The awards are given by APME and the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) in partnership with the Freedom Forum, which provides the funding. Each honoree receives $2,500 and a sculpture representing leadership.

"These editors lead by example, and the quality of their newspapers shows the positive results of a commitment to diversity," said Charles Overby, Freedom Forum CEO and chairman.

The awards, which recognize leadership in content and in recruiting, developing and retaining journalists of color, are named for a former executive editor of the Detroit Free Press and diversity champion. He died of cancer in April 2002.

Ivory, who won in the over-50,000 circulation category, was recognized for leadership spanning a 35-year career. "Bennie has been an advocate for diversity in every newsroom he has worked since entering the journalism profession in 1969 at The Sentinel-Record in Arkansas," Edward Manassah, publisher of The Courier-Journal, wrote in nominating Ivory.

Stuart Wilk, vice president and associate editor of The Dallas Morning News and APME president, said Ivory's has been "a long and inspirational career."

"He's lived leadership on diversity," said Milton Coleman, deputy managing editor of The Washington Post and ASNE's diversity committee chair.

Judges noted the depth and quality of content in newspapers led by Ivory and the presence of diversity in those newspapers' enterprise and investigative work.

Manassah said Ivory has "opened a dialogue with the African-American community through issues-oriented reporting and roundtable discussions."

Ivory serves as a mentor through the Asian American Journalists Association's Executive Leadership Program. He also is a member of Florida A&M University's journalism advisory board.

In the St. Cloud Times newsroom, Susan Ihne, executive editor, meets with Education Reporter Dave Aeikens and Suburbs Reporter Chuanpis Santilukka, a graduate of the Freedom Forum’s Diversity Institute.

Ihne was the winner in the under-50,000 circulation category. Judges praised her extraordinary efforts to recruit and develop young journalists of color. "She is always scouting for talent and looking for ways she can nourish, mentor and encourage young minority journalists," Wilk said.

Times President and Publisher Bill Albrecht noted in Ihne's nomination that she once offered an internship on the spot to a local teen on a school tour of the newsroom. The student, who went on to work as a Times intern for three Summers, will graduate in May with a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota. "Susan's successes are measured in the people whose lives and careers she has touched," Albrecht wrote.

Ihne oversees an internship program that has led to full-time jobs for journalists of color in her newsroom and elsewhere. She created a reporting position for a lawyer trained to be a journalist at the Freedom Forum's Diversity Institute.

Journalists of color make up 12.5% of the newsroom staff at the Times, which serves a community with a 4.7% minority population.

Each January, the Times publishes a report card on minority staffing by local government. The newspaper conducts diverse focus groups on content topics and ensures diversity in standing features, Ihne's nomination noted.

Ihne plans to use the $2,500 that comes with the McGruder award to provide a Summer newsroom opportunity for a minority high school student interested in journalism.

Judges praised the leadership and quality of work by all nominees. For the second year in a row, judges noted what they called impressive work by the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D., which has reached out to and covered its Native American community.

Other nominees were:

• Ronnie Agnew, executive editor, and Don Hudson, managing editor, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.
• Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D.
• Arnold Garcia, editorial-page editor, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman
• Joe Grimm, staff-development coordinator, Detroit Free Press
• Charles Pittman, senior vice president/newspapers, Schurz Communications
• Rick Rodriguez, executive editor, The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee
• Sharon Rosenhause, managing editor, Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.
• David Yarnold, editor, San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News

(Under-50,000 circulation category)

• Randy Brandt, editor, The Journal Times, Racine, Wis.
• Kristi Fry, executive editor, Muskogee (Okla.) Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat
• Herald News, West Paterson, N.J.
• Candy Page, reporter, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press
• Star-Gazette, Elmira, N.Y.
• Wausau (Wis.) Daily Herald
• York (Pa.) Daily Record

The judges were: Wilk; Coleman; Calvin Stovall, managing editor, The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.; Caesar Andrews, editor, Gannett News Service; Anna Lopez, executive director, UNITY: Journalists of Color; Chris Cobler, editor, Greeley (Colo.) Tribune; and Kate Kennedy, director/partnerships and initiatives, Freedom Forum.

Cobler was a 2003 winner of the award. Wilk and Stovall represented APME on the judging panel. Andrews and Coleman represented ASNE.

Related

Award winner: It always has been about giving opportunity
Commentary McGruder award winner Bennie Ivory says, 'When you live it, breathe it and experience it, you realize how important it is.'  10.20.04

Leading by example
Commentary Diversity leadership award winner Susan Ihne says, 'You have to set the standards and expectations, then measure them and hold people accountable.'  09.30.04

Reporting for understanding
Newspapers help communities know their members.  10.21.04