Poynter Names New Dean

By: Joe Strupp Keith Woods, an award-winning journalist and 10-year veteran of The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., has been named dean of the faculty.

In his first move, Woods proposed changing curriculum to more strongly emphasize beat coverage, while also urging more faculty training.

Woods said the focus on beats emerged from faculty brainstorming, adding that it is aimed at helping journalists improve their coverage of such core areas as crime, government, and education.

"Poynter can serve the industry in several ways right now," Woods said Monday in a release. He added that Poynter would emphasize "sharpening the skills of reporting and editing that can make the difference between average work and excellence."

Woods outlined his goals at a meeting with colleagues, where he proposed increased training for Poynter faculty and "more learning about journalism issues breaking and long-standing."

"In this age of high-profile ethical lapses and public scorn, we'll continue to keep journalists in touch with the critical role they serve in this democracy and the passion and purpose that drove them to the profession," said Woods, who has gained industrywide prominence as an ethics expert at Poynter.

Poynter President Karen Dunlap named Woods, 45, to the post, saying she wanted someone "who is a journalist and who understands this school."

Woods succeeds Janet Weaver, who left in June to become managing editor of The Tampa Tribune. Weaver had succeeded Dunlap, who served as Dean for nearly a decade before becoming Poynter president in August 2003.

A 1980 graduate of Dillard University, Woods earned a Master's Degree in Social Welfare from Tulane University. He started out as a juvenile probation officer but soon switched to journalism. His first newsroom job was sports agate clerk at his hometown paper, The Times Picayune in New Orleans. During 16 years at the paper his assignments included bureau sports writer, general assignment reporter, city editor, editorial writer, and columnist. He was one of the leaders of a 1993 series on race that won a National Headliner Award.

Woods made his first appearance at Poynter in 1990 as a participant in a Reporting, Writing and Editing seminar. He joined the Poynter faculty five years later.