The election period for APSE 2nd Vice President is open. The 2nd Vice President assumes office at the conclusion of the convention in June in Salt Lake City. Each news organization has one vote. To vote, send your choice via e-mail to Executive Director Jack Berninger at jackapse@aol.com. The deadline is June 1. Bios of the candidates are presented below in alphabetical order:
Candidate: Gerry Ahern
News organization: YahooSports
Background: Began my career at the Stuart (Fla.) News and went on to editing positions at the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot, the (Chicago) Daily Southtown, the (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch, the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal, the Detroit News, the Orange County Register and the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press. I joined Yahoo! Sports in 2006 as college editor and was promoted to Assistant Managing Editor (in charge of investigations) the following year. My first sports editor’s job was in Huntington, where we chronicled Marshall’s rise to national prominence in college football behind Randy Moss. I spearheaded award-winning coverage of championship-contending teams in Lansing (Michigan State basketball), Detroit (Red Wings) and Orange County (Angels, Lakers and Ducks). All but the Wings came through with crowns. It hasn’t been all been fun and games. I was the point editor on two major investigative stories – the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case in Orange County and the Vikings "Love Boat" incident in St. Paul. At Yahoo! Sports, we’ve set the standard for investigative reporting across all disciplines and changed the way on-line sports journalism is viewed. Our coverage of improprieties in the USC football and men’s basketball programs and in the Connecticut men’s basketball program has earned APSE and national acclaim.
APSE experience: Past vice chairman of the Midwest and West regions. Speaker on numerous national convention panels and at multiple region meetings regarding coverage of college sports, working with writers and on-line journalism. Coordinated and executed judging of the first APSE Web site contest in 2009. Have served as an APSE contest judge for 10 years. Have been attending the national convention since 1996.
Objective: To give back to an organization that has been instrumental in the development of my career. I’ve benefitted from the guidance of the Bill Dwyres and Don Skwars, giants in our business who took the time to provide feedback to a young editor learning the ropes. I’m no giant, but I am now older, wiser and willing to work with all members to improve, progress and produce as sports journalists.
Quotable: "I am a newspaper man who has learned how to adapt to the changing landscape of multiple-platform, multi-media, 24-7 sports journalism. I care deeply about APSE and believe I am uniquely qualified to help members at papers and Web sites of all sizes continue to thrive and survive in the competitive marketplace."
Candidate: Josh Barnett
News organization: Philadelphia Daily News
Background: Began my career as a writer and page designer at the Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. Also have worked at the Utica Observer-Dispatch as a 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. Left for the Philadelphia Daily News in 1999 and worked on the sports copy desk as an editor and page designer with some supervisory responsibilities for special sections. Was promoted to sports editor in 2004 and executive sports editor in 2008.
APSE experience: Member since 2004. Mid-Atlantic regional chair since fall 2009. Have been a contest judge five times.
Objective: To provide an organization for sports editors from papers of all sizes to share ideas, innovations and strategies to help deal with the challenges that we face as the industry continues to change. Sports editors need to be resources for each other as we all strive to make our content better every day.
Quotable: “APSE needs to continue to evolve as the ways we present our product and the ways we cover news rapidly changes. We need to grow our membership, learn from each other and make our organization as strong and influential as possible.”
News organization: Antelope Valley Press (Palmdale, Calif.)
Background: I have been the sports editor at the Antelope Valley Press in northern Los Angeles County for one year after previously working at the Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau for five years. At the Missourian, I first was sports editor for about 3-1/2 years and transitioned to the regional online sports editor position for the regional Web site, Semoball.com. In that role, I developed unique online content (blogs and video) while also working with the sports departments of the Missourian and four other newspapers in the area. I was sports editor for the Beaumont Enterprise in 2003 and prior to that worked 15 years with the Suburban Journals of St. Louis, starting as a sports writer in 1988 and serving as a managing editor for three years. My first byline — on the all-important high school cross country beat — was published while I was a high school sophomore in 1982 for the Evening Times of Little Falls, N.Y.
APSE experience: Concluding two-year stint as Third Vice President (2008-10), representing small papers in APSE. Prior to that, was Great Plains Region chair for two years (2006-08), and region vice chair before that. Contest judge for six years, including three as a judging chair. Panelist for national APSE conventions as well as regional conventions in the Southwest, Great Plains and West regions on topics from coordinating coverage of high school sports in print and online to dealing with universities on public records. Helped coordinate regional contest for Great Plains newspapers for 2008. Also have been working with executive director Jack Berninger on editing and designing APSE convention guides, literature and winners slideshow since the St. Louis convention in 2007. Have been a part of coordinating national convention sessions since 2007. Was a member Fred Faour’s committee to develop region chair guidelines. Worked with Mike Fannin, Greg Brownell, Larry Vaught and others on what eventually led to under-20,000 division for the APSE contest for the last two years. As third VP in 2008, compiled a list of state high school association policies toward online coverage of championship tournaments, particularly as it pertains to online photo galleries and reprints.
Objective: Each year brings different challenges. For the APSE Web site, I would like to see us use technology to be able to provide video, audio, Webinars, and other teaching tools that would allow us to educate each other without having the expense of travel. Behind members-only walls, I would like to see the directory published online (and updated when necessary) as well as forums that could lead to conversations among members looking to share experiences or find solutions, whether it’s finding a stringer in another market or looking for a good idea on tightening up an agate presentation. I would like to see the Web site archives developed as far back as possible with more data and searchable capabilities to help us recall where we’ve been and celebrate the history of our industry. I have had editors ask me about how to apply specific situations that have been written about in older editions of the newsletter.
In addition, we should continue to build on what has been started between Indiana University and Garry Howard in recognizing past Red Smith winners and past presidents by continuing to find ways to honor our pioneers. The contest will continue to be in a state of transition as we likely welcome more participation among online members and recognize work done by newspapers on their Web sites. I support the expansion of judging online project work and finding ways to include the online component into the breaking news category. I would hope that all of our online members recognize the achievement that comes with winning APSE writing awards and participate more in the future. If we do away with any print components in the contest, such as special sections, we should still find ways to recognize innovation
in print when it takes place. With the contest changes in circulation to under-30,000, I would still like to see even smaller papers recognized, tinkering with what we started on the under-20,000 list and considering an under-15,000 division. And in general, I believe we should continue to try to grow membership both with online members and small papers by placing value on the APSE membership with what we can provide through the Web site, what we can provide to each other in education and the shared experience of what we do.
Quotable: "The process of trying to improve as journalists and editors never ends, and APSE is a valuable tool in that development. Our goal should be to continue educating editors and reporters, recognizing achievements of others that help us get better, and using our unity as strength in turbulent times."
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Candidate: Reid Laymance
News organization: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Background: Internships at Baytown Sun, 1980; Tulsa World, 1981; and Dallas Morning News, 1982. College correspondent, high school writer, high school editor, copy editor, Sunday editor at Dallas Morning News from 1982-1989. Senior editor, assistant managing editor at The National Sports Daily, 1989-91. Assistant sports editor, deputy sports editor at Houston Chronicle, 1991-97. Sports editor at San Jose Mercury News, 1997-2000. Senior assistant sports editor at Boston Globe, 2000-2008. Sports editor at St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2008-present.
APSE experience: Attended first APSE convention in 1989 in Portland and have remained active in the organization ever since. Brief tenure as Vice-Chair of Southwest Region before moving to California. Have written articles for APSE newsletters, worked behind the scenes to help get things done for former national and regional presidents, attended and helped plan regional conventions, commissioner’s meetings, and worked on other national committees (Olympics, futures). When given a choice between going to the summer convention or the winter judging, have always opted for judging because there’s something about sitting in a room with other editors and seeing the work that is being done around the country at different levels that keeps me motivated.
Objective: I think we need to stick to what our core values and objectives are: helping us all improve the sports journalism we produce, fighting for the things we all need (access, credentials, etc.), maintaining our ethics, recognizing our good work, and finding solutions together to new challenges.
Quotable: "Bet big, win big." Actually that was Van McKenzie’s and is apropos of nothing but I just like it.
Candidate: Tim Stephens
News organization: Orlando Sentinel
Bac
kground: I joined the staff of the Orlando Sentinel in 2003, working as copy editor, assistant sports editor and deputy sports editor before being named Sports Topics Manager in 2009. Before that, I was at the Birmingham Post-Herald, where I began as a $25-a-story freelancer in 1993 and worked up from intern to reporter/copy editor to sports editor to co-managing editor. I got my start as a correspondent in high school for my hometown Fort Payne (Ala.) Times-Journal and in college for the Mobile Register and Post-Herald. One of my career highlights is serving as executive director of the Orlando Sentinel High School Sports Reporting Institute, a summer mentoring program that has seen many of its students go on to top journalism programs across the nation.
APSE experience: I attended my first convention at Dallas in 2003 and served as a judge in 2006, 2008 and 2010. I participated in a Triple Crown roundtable session at the 2007 convention in St. Louis and led a session on social media at 2010 judging in Orlando. I’ve have worked for or with four past APSE presidents: the late Van McKenzie, John Cherwa, Lynn Hoppes and Steve Doyle.
Objective: APSE must push Web innovation with the same urgency we see in our newsrooms. We must be agile and creative, and the organization’s goals should reflect our evolution. We must aggressively work to provide training and resources to help sports editors position their staffs for digital success. It means providing leadership on digital issues and helping sports editors deal with those challenges while still trying producing quality sports sections for print.
Quotable: “Digital isn’t our future. It’s our right now. We should embrace it and run with it. Let’s find the answers that make us great at it.”
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