Meet our ‘Masters’: Recognition is important during challenging times

We work in a challenging industry that seems to be getting tougher — a little acknowledgment of someone’s contributions can be a meaningful way to say, ‘Thank you for your contribution.’”

Robin Blinder, editor-in-chief, Editor & Publisher

In September, Mike & I will mark six years at E&P. A lot has happened in those years — much change. (Some would say the rate of change has increased in just the last three months.) However, one thing hasn’t changed — our commitment to featuring faces in every issue of E&P. That was one of our first goals — to make E&P the “People” magazine of our news media industry. We do this in our company, association and j-school profiles — as well as all of our exclusive articles.

One of our primary strategies to meet this goal has been to expand our salutes. Some have met with more success than others, but I've always maintained that there will never be enough opportunities to celebrate those working in our industry to further news media. So, it always gives me pleasure to feature the innovative, committed, hard-working people in our industry.

This month, we salute our “Masters of Media,” which has previously been known as “15 Over 50.” We changed the name this year to reflect that it won’t always be 15 people we salute — sometimes more, sometimes less. However, the parameters are the same — those individuals — aged 50 or older — making a significant impact in their organizations and the industry.

I always find these “Masters” so inspiring. Many in our industry have come from other businesses/industries and have brought extensive experience and knowledge. However, others have worked their entire careers in news media — sometimes in the same company for their career — building on their industry knowledge and experience over many years. We need both deep experience and fresh ideas to keep news media moving forward. I hope you enjoy this month’s salute and the wisdom from each of our Masters. They deserve to be celebrated.

That said, the only way these salutes can succeed is through your participation. I ask you to look around and find those you work with — in your company, in your vendor pool or from your customers. Find those people who deserve to be recognized and celebrated. We work in a challenging industry that seems to be getting tougher — a little acknowledgment of someone’s contributions can be a meaningful way to say, “Thank you for your contribution.”

As always, we welcome your input and ideas. You’re the reason E&P is here. Your participation isn’t only desired — it’s crucial to our success. We thank you all for your contributions.

Robin Blinder is E&P's editor-in-chief. She has been with E&P for five years. She can be reached at robin@editorandpublisher.com.