Editor-Publisher Confab Gets Mixed Reviews

By: Greg Mitchell and Joe Strupp Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But the reality of the first collaborative annual gathering of top editors and publishers from around the country -- with the Associated Press annual meeting in the mix as well -- left something to be desired, according to many attendees. In their view it was, literally, too much of a good thing.

The prospect of speaking to more than 1,000 executives at the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and Newspaper Association of America (NAA) conventions in Washington, -- with the AP luncheon another highlight -- drew one of the most star-studded list of speakers ever: President Bush and his likely Democratic opponent Sen. John Kerry; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Sen. Hillary Clinton, House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch, and more.

"There definitely were some people they probably would not have gotten," one observer noted, citing the fact that Bush had not been to the ASNE gathering since 2001 and might very well have stayed away again were it a lone editors affair. "They got some big guns."

But while the massive lunch crowds proved relatively manageable, some of the joint sessions featuring actual editors and publishers, instead of politicians, ran out of room. Hundreds had to sit in "overflow" chambers and listen to disembodied panelists.

When Bush addressed the combined crowd on Wednesday, some tables -- at nearly $100 per person -- were mis-assigned, leaving at least one group without a place to nosh the so-so steak and wine selection. A popular ethics panel held Thursday with the likes of The New York Times Publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., Knight Ridder Chairman Tony Ridder, and Tribune Publishing President Jack Fuller spilled into an extra room where dozens of attendees were forced to follow the discussion via closed-circuit TV.

"This seemed like a good idea at the time," one participant who requested anonymity said about the joint effort, which had actually been in the planning stages for four years. "I guess they just didn't have enough space."

The two convention hotels also were separated by a lengthy bus ride. So attendees spent a lot of time listening to Washington insiders and sitting in buses, less time at working sessions with their peers. Some said they hoped the joint idea would not be soon revived, but others felt that the mingling of editors and publishers made it worthwhile. "It is good for us to spend some time together, and learn more about what each other do," one attendee said about the editor and publisher combination. "We often don't understand each other well enough."

During the week, the annual diversity and readership surveys were released, giving good news about both. Readership was up slightly overall, although readers under 25 years of age remained more elusive than ever. Diversity also was up slightly, with the percentage of minorities in newsrooms inching up a fraction of a percent.

Outgoing ASNE President Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian in Portland, left his post by urging members to keep up the fight on freedom of information and credibility, while incoming ASNE President Karla Garrett Harshaw of the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun took the baton from Bhatia with a speech urging more diverse hiring.

"If you each go back and hire one minority employee," she told the group at the closing luncheon. "It could make a substantial difference. You have the power and the authority."