Meet the candidates for 2nd Vice President

 

 

The election period for APSE second vice president is open. The candidates include, from left top to bottom: Josh Barnett of the Philadelphia Daily News, Ben Brigandi of the Williamsport (Pa.) Sun-Gazette, Ron Fritz of the Baltimore Sun and Mike Sherman of The Oklahoman. The second vice president will assume office at the concluding meeting of the summer conference in Chicago in June. Each news organization has one vote. To vote, send your choice to Executive Director Jack Berninger at jackapse@aol.com. The deadline is June 1.

 

Bios of the candidates are below in alphabetical order.

 

News organization: Philadelphia Daily News

Background: Began my professional career as a sports writer and page design at The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. Also have worked at the Utica Observer-Dispatch as a sports writer and editor, including a period as interim sports editor, and the Syracuse Newspapers (back when there were two papers put out by one staff) as the assistant sports editor in charge of the night desk. Joined the Philadelphia Daily News in 1999 as a copy editor/page designer with some supervisory responsibilities for special sections. Was promoted to sports editor in 2004 and executive sports editor in 2008. Supervise a staff of 30 reporters and copy editors.

APSE experience: Joined APSE in 2004. Currently serving as chair of the regions committee and previously was chair of the Mid-Atlantic region. Have been a contest judge seven times (three times as group chairman) and have attended four national conventions. Was a panelist at the national convention in Pittsburgh in 2009 on “Covering the Big Event” and co-moderated the annual “Best Ideas” session at the national convention in Salt Lake City in 2010.

Objective: We need to continue to evolve as an organization, just as the roles in our newsrooms and the industry continue to evolve. More than ever, as partnerships among newspapers develop and content sharing becomes more prevalent, we need to be resources for each other as we all strive to make our content better every day, often with less people, less space or less in our budget. The camaraderie that is on display when we get together should continue year-round. Any sports editor should feel comfortable picking up the phone or dropping an email to another sports editor for advice or to lend an ear. We need to continue to recognize great work being done by member organizations and work to make the judging process as equitable as possible. The mentoring program that has been restarted should be used as a selling point to potential members at smaller papers. I also would like to see APSE aggressively pursue members among college journalism students and professors at universities noted for sports journalism programs in order to build the next generation of membership.

Quotable: APSE should be an organization where we share ideas, innovations and strategies to make our ever-increasing range of content the best it can be. We need to emphasize growing the organization and expanding its role as a resource for sports editors. We can get through the tough times with help from each other.

News organization: Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Background: Began my career as a one-man sports department with the 6-day afternoon Lock Haven (Pa.) Express upon college graduation in 1996. The Express had a city penetration rate of more than 100 percent in the years leading up to my hire, one of the nation's very highest, but that was a different era. I was given another full-time sportswriter there a year later, meaning I didn't have to handle pages, edit stories, write them, cover games, and type bowling scores all by myself. I arrived at the Sun-Gazette at the tail end of 1999, where I was relieved I had staff help me do all those things, including the bowling scores. I still do a lot of that and more 12 years later, though when the phone rings with a Little League game you still answer it and get it in the paper.

APSE experience: Joined in 2002. Currently the third Vice-President, with my term ending in June. I attended conventions in 2004, 2006, and every one since 2009, plus winter judging in 2006, 20011, and 2012. I've also been to every Mid-Atlantic regional meeting since Jon Bon Jovi addressed us in Atlantic City in 2005. Regional meetings are great, even when they don't include rock stars and blackjack. I've led and contributed to a handful of panels over the years about how small papers can cover big stories, such as that International annual youth baseball tournament our town hosts for two weeks every August.

Objective: My career has shown that you can do great work in any market. Also, the realities of 2012 show we need to keep looking to the future, which for the foreseeable future may include print, web, tablets, phones, town criers, telegrams, holograms, or whatever else the next generation wants. I want to help us find ways to do all that, even if a place has more platforms than reporters.

Quotable: There are no small papers, just small minds. Fortunately, we're lucky to be with some of the best and brightest minds in the news media here with APSE, and it is up to us make sure we fulfill all that potential.

 

News organization: The Baltimore Sun

Background: I began my career in high school covering other local high schools for the Sun Newspapers weekly chain outside of Cleveland. After graduating from Bowling Green, the “Cradle of Sports Editors,” I was a copy editor and then assistant sports editor at the York (Pa.) Daily Record for five years. After moving to the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal, I served as a news editor for several years before moving on to a seven-year stint as sports editor. In 2006, I was hired by the Baltimore Sun as executive sports editor. About two years ago, I was named head of sports, overseeing print and online.

APSE experience: I’ve served as Mid-Atlantic chair and vice chair, and I’ve been attending judging and the summer conferences since 2001. I’ve also been a chair for print judging and online judging.

Objective: As newspapers shrink in size and employees, I’ve become a big fan of content sharing. I honestly think it’s one of the ways we can survive as an industry, bringing the best content available across the country to our audience. I’ve called on many of you for help in covering events and I’ve never once been turned down. That’s what we’re about — finding a way to survive, to thrive and to give our readers the best content possible despite the challenges we face.

Quotable: I started writing as a 15-year-old in high school when a sports editor named Mike Dungjen decided to give the kid a shot. My mom used to drive me to games I had to cover for the weekly paper. I’m forever grateful to the bosses and mentors I’ve worked for and learned from, and I’d like to give back to APSE and to “kids” trying to get started. A few years ago at an APSE regional meeting at Penn State I was asked if I’d let my kid go into journalism, and I replied “Hell no.” That’s no longer true. I’m more optimistic than ever about our industry. I’m extremely impressed with the young journalists coming out of colleges. They totally get it. That’s why I suggested that each of us sponsor a college student for APSE membership, and I was thrilled that Michael Anastasi supported the idea. We can ensure the future of APSE by getting young journalists interested in our organization.

 

News organization: The Oklahoman

Background: How's this for dating me: I got my start as an agate clerk for Oklahoma City's P.M. newspaper — The Times — in 1981. My first full-time gig was covering junior high sports for what was then known as The Daily Oklahoman in 1984. My boss told me not to go to the games, just interview coaches on the phone, that way I'd write about it as if it was the most important thing going and not allow my eyes to tell me something different. I covered high school sports in Oklahoma until leaving in 1993, when my wife got a good sales manager job closer to my home state of Maryland. I spent a year as a news reporter at The Daily Local News in West Chester, Pa., before getting my first sports editor job in 1995 at the Utica Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y. Attended my first APSE meeting, a Northeast Regional, in Bristol, Conn., soon after and was immediately overwhelmed with the quality of training, conversation and fellowship offered. That experience came at a critical time for me because I was wondering whether I was cut out for management. Spent three rewarding years in Utica before moving on to Nashville, Tenn., as one of about a half dozen assistant city editor at The Tennessean. I loved the paper, the town and the stories and thought I'd be there for good until the sports editor at The Oklahoman opened up in 2003. I'm blessed to say that I worked with people I choose to work with — either I came back here because of them or I hired them — without exception. As my colleague Berry Tramel has been heard to say, our jobs rank somewhere north of fantastic. My wife and I live on the north edge of the Oklahoma City metro area with our four children and my 87-year-old aunt.

APSE experience: I've been a contest judge something like seven of the nine years I've been sports editor at The Oklahoman. I served as Great Plains regional chair. I've attended national conventions in Dallas, Orlando, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Salt Lake City and Boston. I've served on panels at least three times, including one on hard-learned lessons of a new sports editor. I was selected to the first class of the Sports Management Institute, a creation of people like Bill Eichenberger and Glen Crevier to train the next generation of sports editors. I am eternally indebted to Glen Crevier for his generous advice and counsel through the years, and thankful that our relationship lasted far beyond my three-day visit to his newsroom at the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Objective: To help more sports editors and sports journalists get out of APSE what I've been blessed to gain. To give back as an expression of gratitude to people like Bill, Glen, Joe Sullivan, Tom Jolly, Josh Barnett, Frank Corsoe, Bill Bradley and so many others (I could go on and and on.. ) for what they've taught me during judging sessions or when they were so gracious to answer my phone calls and email. To learn from people like Phil Kaplan and Michael Anastasi what it takes to be a leader of this great organization.

Quotable: Remember the Reader.