The Associated Press Sports Editors celebrates its 50th year in 2023. To mark this milestone, a series of interviews with the organization’s past presidents will be unveiled throughout the year. This is the third of those interviews.

Jeff Wohler was the APSE president in 1991-92, and he is interviewed by St. Louis Post-Dispatch digital sports editor Erik Hall.

Jeff Wohler and his wife, Mary, ahead of the 1989 APSE Convention in Portland, Oregon.

Wohler was the sports editor at The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon, from 1984-93. He retired from journalism in 2008 after 38 years at The Oregonian. 

In this interview, Wohler remembers being there for the start of the Sports Journalism Institute that was spearheaded by his presidential successor, Sandy Bailey. He talks about getting roasted by humorist Dave Barry and the reunion of APSE presidents at the organization’s celebration of its 25th year.

Wohler gives advice on hosting an APSE summer convention, which he did in Portland in 1989 that included a fun panel with IndyCar drivers. He praises APSE for its enduring importance to journalism and sports journalism with reflections on how an APSE Triple Crown once meant keeping or losing your job. 

If you are a former APSE president and have not conducted or scheduled an interview, reach out to Erik Hall at hallerik7@gmail.com.

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