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My First Job ...
Bennie Ivory, executive editor, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Bennie Ivory |
My first job was at the Hot Springs, Ark., Sentinel-Record
in 1969. I went to work there just a few weeks after high-school
graduation and stayed there for 10 years in various jobs,
including general-assignment reporter, sports writer and sports
editor, court reporter and city and county-government reporter.
During that time, I commuted 72 miles a day to college in
Arkadelphia, Ark., and worked 40 hours a week at night at
the newspaper. The biggest impact in my first year was not
a story but the fact that this newspaper took a chance on
me. I like to call it a calculated risk. The newspaper was
looking for an African- American reporter. I found out about
it at a local job agency and was encouraged to apply. My only
qualifications: I was African American, I could type, I was
a better than average English student and I was a good writer.
That introduced me to the need for diversity in our newsrooms.
It taught me that you need to give people the opportunity
to succeed and that sometimes taking a risk isn't a risk at
all. It's about doing the right thing.
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My First Job archive
Ronnie Agnew,
executive editor, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.
Caesar Andrews,
editor, Gannett News Service, Washington, D.C.
George Benge,
news executive, Gannett Co., Inc.
Peter Bhatia,
executive editor, The Oregonian, Portland
Michael Chihak,
publisher and editor, Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen
Bill Church,
executive editor, Star-Gazette, Elmira, N.Y.
Don Flores,
executive vice president and editor, El Paso (Texas) Times
Karla Garrett Harshaw,
editor, Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, and senior editor, Cox Community Newspapers
Bennie Ivory,
executive editor, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Sherrie Marshall,
executive editor, The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph
E.J. Mitchell,
managing editor, The Detroit News
Ricardo Pimentel,
columnist, The Arizona Republic, Phoenix
Africa Price,
managing editor, The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun
John Quinn,
senior advisory trustee, Freedom Forum
Mark Russell,
assistant managing editor, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland
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