Neuharth Award to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of USA TODAY

Neuharth Award to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of USA TODAY

VERMILLION, S.D., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2007 Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media will celebrate the 25th anniversary of USA TODAY by honoring editors from the newspaper's past and present, on Thursday evening, Oct. 11, at The University of South Dakota.

Former Editor-in-Chief John C. Quinn and current Editor Ken Paulson will be the 20th and 21st individuals honored by the university and the Freedom Forum since the Neuharth Award program began in 1989. The award is named for USA TODAY and Freedom Forum founder Al Neuharth, a South Dakota native and 1950 graduate of USD. This year's event will include recognition of the honorees and a discussion with Quinn and Paulson about USA TODAY and changes in the news media. The evening also will feature "Hits and Headlines," a live multimedia show and musical performance looking back at news headlines and popular music of the past 25 years.

The free event will begin at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11, in Slagle Auditorium on the USD campus. Doors will be open for ticket-holders from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; general admission for any remaining seats will follow from 6:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Tickets (limit of two per request) are available in advance at the Al Neuharth Media Center or by specifying the quantity needed and sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Free Tickets, Al Neuharth Media Center, 555 Dakota St., Vermillion, SD, 57069.

The program will be televised live and statewide 7-9 p.m. Central Time on South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

"As USA TODAY celebrates its 25th anniversary, we salute two individuals who have played essential roles at critical times in the newspaper's history," Neuharth said. "John Quinn gave USA TODAY his enthusiastic support and superb news judgment not only at the newspaper's launch, but for several crucial, formative years. In 2004, one of USA TODAY's founding staff members, Ken Paulson, returned to the newspaper as editor, bringing his tremendous passion for great journalism and the First Amendment."

   -- John C. Quinn spent nearly 50 years in the news business, including      serving as the chief news executive for Gannett Co. when USA TODAY       was launched, and as USA TODAY's editor from 1983 until 1988 and its      editor-in-chief from 1988 until 1989. In Confessions of an S.O.B.      (Doubleday, 1989), Al Neuharth described Quinn as "farseeing and      foresighted, hungry but humane, passionate" and noted that Quinn      became "the conscience of our company."   -- Ken Paulson is the editor/vice president of news of USA TODAY and      USATODAY.com. For nearly three decades, Paulson has drawn on his      background as both journalist and lawyer. He has been a reporter,      bureau chief, managing editor, editor or executive editor of      newspapers from Wisconsin to Florida and the executive director of the      Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.   

Quinn started his news career as a copy boy at the Providence, R.I., Journal-Bulletin in 1943 and retired as executive vice president/news and director of Gannett Co. in 1990.

He was with the Journal-Bulletin for 23 years, rising to day managing editor when he left in 1966 to join Gannett, where he held news executive roles for 24 years. His Gannett career included serving as chief news executive for Gannett when USA TODAY was launched in 1982 and as USA TODAY's editor from 1983 until 1988 and its editor-in-chief until 1989. In 1986, the National Press Foundation named Quinn "editor of the year." In 1987, the University of Kansas gave Quinn the William Allen White National Citation Award. Quinn also was president of the Gannett News Service in 1980 when it won the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service.

After his retirement from Gannett, Quinn became deputy chairman of the Freedom Forum. In 1991, Quinn and his wife, Loie, established the Freedom Forum's Chips Quinn Scholars program in memory of their son John C. "Chips" Quinn Jr. To date, 1,088 students of color have participated in the journalism training and internship program, with approximately 67 percent of graduates working in the news business today.

Paulson's journalism career began in 1978 at The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., where he was a reporter and bureau chief. From 1980 to 1984, Paulson was metro editor and then managing editor of the Courier-News at Bridgewater, N.J. During that time, he was a founding staff member of USA TODAY, on loan from the Courier-News. He was editor of the Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazette from 1985 to 1986; chief of staff for Al Neuharth from 1987 to 1988; executive editor of Florida Today from 1988 to 1992; and vice president/news and executive editor of Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Westchester County, N.Y., from 1992 to 1996.

Paulson is widely known for his efforts to inform and educate Americans about First Amendment freedoms and as a strong voice for tougher confidential sourcing policies and ethics guidelines in America's newsrooms. For the past 10 years, he has been a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists and media executives about First Amendment issues.

USA TODAY is the nation's top-selling newspaper, with a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million. It is sent via satellite to 36 printing locations in the USA and to four sites abroad. USATODAY.com, which launched April 17, 1995, ranks among the most popular news websites.

Past recipients of the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media include: Walter Cronkite (1989), Carl T. Rowan (1990), Helen Thomas (1991), Tom Brokaw (1992), Larry King (1993), Charles Kuralt (1994), Albert R. Hunt and Judy Woodruff (1995), Robert MacNeil (1996), Cokie Roberts (1997), Tim Russert and Louis D. Boccardi (1998), John Seigenthaler (1999), Al Neuharth (2000), Jim Lehrer (2001), Tom Curley (2002), Don Hewitt (2004), Garrison Keillor (2005) and Bob Schieffer (2006).

For more information about the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media, contact Jack Marsh, executive director of the Al Neuharth Media Center, 605/677-6315 or jmarsh@freedomforum.org.

About the Al Neuharth Media Center

The Al Neuharth Media Center on the University of South Dakota campus was dedicated in 2003. It houses Freedom Forum operations as well as the media and journalism organizations on campus, including the American Indian Journalism Institute, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, USD's Department of Contemporary Media and Journalism, campus radio station KAOR and television station KYOT, and The Volante, which Neuharth edited as a student.

About the University of South Dakota

Founded in 1862, the University of South Dakota is designated as the only public liberal arts university in the state and is home to a large College of Arts and Sciences, a School of Education and the state's only School of Law, School of Medicine, accredited School of Business and College of Fine Arts. It has an enrollment of approximately 8,700 students taught by 400 faculty members. More information is available at HYPERLINK "http://www.usd.edu/press/news" www.usd.edu/press/news.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Freedom Forum

CONTACT: Mike Fetters of Freedom Forum, office: +1-703-284-2895, cell:
+1-571-262-1188, or Phil Carter of USD, office: +1-605-677-6258, cell:
+1-605-677-9771

Web Site: http://www.usd.edu/press/news

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