Summary

Kurt Johnson

Co-Publisher, Aurora News-Register
Aurora, NE

Kurt Johnson was the executive editor of a local daily newspaper in South Dakota when he got a tip that a college in his town was inflating its enrollment. Using insider information, Johnson’s reporting led to the sale and loss of accreditation for the school. Johnson felt the weight of his work and affirmed that reporting, “is a serious business and you need to treat it that way.”

Jonathan Kealing

Assistant Director Media Strategy, Lawrence Journal-World
Lawrence, KS

Jonathan Kealing had an “ah-ha” moment after he received an anonymous package bearing confidential Kansas University documents. Kealing followed the document leak to its roots, wrote a story, and procedures were modified. “Seeing how the university changed was really powerful,” he recalls.

Dennis Anderson

Managing Editor, Lawrence Journal-World
Lawrence, KS

Dennis Anderson had to make one of those phone calls every reporter dreads -- to the mother of a boy who had just drowned. “She didn’t know me, but she had a story to tell,” says Anderson. She talked for a long time and Dennis took notes. Afterward, “ I knew that I helped her,” says Anderson. “We can do things like that – help people,” says Anderson

Dolph C. Simons Jr.

Chairman, The World Company; Editor, Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence Journal-World
Lawrence, KS

Dolph Simons realized the importance of the newspaper business on a quiet Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941. He was a 7-year-old at his grandfather’s house for Sunday dinner when war broke out. Before the day was done he was on the streets of Lawrence, Kan., hawking an extra edition of his grandfather’s Lawrence Journal-World.

Tom Rosenstiel

Director, Project for Excellence in Journalism, Project for Excellence in Journalism
Washington, D.C.

Tom Rosenstiel’s first epiphany came when his new high school newspaper seized a mandate to write the news “the way they want to write it.” The authorities objected, and Rosenstiel discovered lessons were being taught at School Board meetings as well as in the classroom.

Duffy Hayes

Web Editor, Daily Sentinel
Grand Junction, CO

Duffy Hayes says he has learned that newspapers are “the prism though which people see the community.” And when he was a reporter, he says, “I just felt like I was making that connection [to the community] every day.”

Laurena Mayne Davis

Managing Editor, Daily Sentinel
Grand Junction, CO

Laurena Mayne Davis was an advisor for a college student newspaper when she saw her young editor pressured for investigating the University’s Board of Trustees. The editor kept fighting, got her story out, and Davis learned a lesson: “If you do things for the right reason and stick to your guns – the right information can come out.”

Jay Seaton

Publisher, Daily Sentinel
Grand Junction, CO

Jay Seaton’s “ah-ha” moment came when a regional sports blogger published an exclusive report on the appointment of a new football coach at Kansas State. “The newspapers did not go with it,” says Seaton, because they could not confirm it. “It was just not true,” says Seaton. “It demonstrated to me what we can do to continue to be the most important voice in the community.”

Thomas Dewell

Co-Editor, Jackson Hole News & Guide, Jackson Hole Daily
Jackson Hole, Wy

Thomas Dewell was a young court reporter when a woman made him a jaw-dropping offer he elected to refuse. The incident helped him realize the size of the stakes when you report on people’s lives.

Kevin Olson

Associate Publisher, Jackson Hole News & Guide, Jackson Hole Daily
Jackson Hole, Wy

The Jackson Hole News & Guide, The Jackson Hole Daily (3:30) Kevin Olson’s “ah-ha” moment came when he was working at the Orange County Register in Anaheim, Calif. When The Register told the story of its community at the beginning of the 21st Century, Olson discovered the importance of a newspaper reporting the stories of the successes and failures of a community to get the public engaged and excited about the place in which they live.