Lecture: Geneva Overholser

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Geneva Overholser. Photo: Laurel Angrist. © 2007 Laurel Angrist.


Veteran editor and reporter Geneva Overholser began her lunchtime lecture at NYU's journalism department by lamenting the decline of the industry. But Overholser does not fear the future; she followed her lament with a remembrance of the day she started fighting back against the low ambitions of her publishers, and the poor ethics, cynicism, and arrogance of journalists and editors in the industry.

The world of journalism was in a state of collective denial when her fight began, she explained to the group of about seven students and professors who had gathered to hear her speak on April 9, 2007.

"I was editor-in-chief of The Des Moines Register, and I felt like I was presiding over the diminishment of a great newspaper," she said. Her publisher, Gannett Co., had earned a reputation for innovation and change with the launch of USA Today in 1982. But by the end of the 1980s, the publisher had stopped taking risks. Overholser said her reporters were afraid of the changes wreaking havoc in their industry, but were even more afraid to speak against the inaction of their publishers.

Her moment of rebellion, Overholser said, came in 1990, when she was named Gannett's editor of the year. Winning the award meant making a speech at the annual company meeting — normally an opportunity for award winners to thank their publishers and their families.

"We've got to open our minds," Overholser said. "We tend to be so set in stone in this profession — it's just amazing to me. We confuse our traditions with our principles."

But Overholser had something else in mind. "I decided to challenge them," she said, a cunning smile creeping onto her face at the memory of that moment. When Overholser took the stage that night, she took the executives in the audience to task for their management failures and shortsightedness. "What if you look towards management of newspapers with a view to the needs of all the stakeholders, not just shareholders?'" she asked the astonished, incredulous executives. What about the "employees, and the readers, and the community?" she demanded to know.

"They were aghast," Overholser said at the lecture, laughing. "You remember in Russia during the Soviet era, if somebody said something, it wouldn't be printed in official documents, but it would be printed underground and sent around for people to read? This was the only speech by a Gannett editor not to be included in the corporate magazine. But man, was it [talked about] in newsrooms across the company."

Overholser's lecture at NYU was far less aggressive. Her enthusiasm was infectious throughout her hour-long talk. She rarely stuck to her notes, using them only to illustrate her points with a tap on her clipboard or a flourish of her pen. "I'm a preacher's daughter, and I tend to get carried away," she said.

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Geneva Overholser. Photo: Laurel Angrist. © 2007 Laurel Angrist.

Eschewing the safety of the podium, Overholser settled into a couch and delivered her lecture in a relaxed, conversational style. Her upbeat manner seemed to mirror her key message, with hope for the future of journalism — rather than despondency — coming through as the central theme.

Overholser has tried to convey the same sense of hope with the work she has done since leaving The Register in 1995 — first in her role as ombudsman at The Washington Post, then as a member on the editorial board of The New York Times, and now as a professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. Just as she spoke out at Gannett's annual meeting 17 years ago, she continues to voice her critiques of the industry to help journalists identify and meet the challenges the profession presents. "There were plenty of reasons, as you all know, to be mournful," she said. "I certainly did my share of that. But I want to move beyond a lament and into far more hopeful territory."

Overholser enthusiastically enumerated the reasons why she remains hopeful about the future of journalism. "Journalism in the public interest is clearly more powerfully needed than ever," she insisted. "The good news is that people really do want it. I was in Memphis, Tennessee, a couple of months ago at a media reform conference. More than 3,000 people came, essentially to plead for and to work for journalism in the public interest."

Movements like the one in Tennessee bolster her pride in and hope for the industry, Overholser said. She pointed out that, as long as journalists remain flexible and are ready to improvise, the business will carry on. "We've got to open our minds," she said. "We tend to be so set in stone in this profession — it's just amazing to me. We confuse our traditions with our principles."

When she opened the floor for questions, one student asked her about the future role of journalism schools. Overholser spoke with particular candor: "I wish journalism schools were far more connected with their communities," she said. "It also has a lot to do with being more [of an] activist. We turn out journalists who forget the point is the public, not one another, not strutting around at the Gridiron Club, or winning a Pulitzer, not being the first to break the story, and not being a cooler blogger. It's about the public."

Michael Rundle is a second-semester graduate student at NYU, studying print journalism.

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