Last Updated: October 03, 2000
Printer-friendly version
AUSTIN, Texas – Karla Garrett Harshaw was elected treasurer-designate of
the American Society of Newspaper Editors during its fall board meeting
here. She will become treasurer of the group in April and rise through
the officer ranks each year until reaching the ASNE presidency in April
2004.
Harshaw is editor of the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun and senior editor
for Cox Community Newspapers.
“It’s an honor to be elected to the top leadership of the largest organization
of newspaper editors,” Harshaw said. “I hope that I will be able to work
with editors to make improvements in our industry and to strengthen our
connection with the public and our readers.”
“I began writing for newspapers when I was a teen-ager because I enjoyed
writing and believed that as a journalist you could make a difference in
society. I still believe that and continue to be as excited about the profession
now as I was then,” Harshaw said.
One of Harshaw’s goals is to ensure that the growing diversity in America’s
communities is reflected in newsrooms and in newspapers.
“ASNE faces the challenge of being responsive to a nation that is transforming
dramatically,” Harshaw said. “ASNE will be at the forefront of making diversity
real in our newsrooms and our printed pages and that technology, chosen
carefully, will be used as a tool to reach new readers in new ways.”
ASNE President Richard A. Oppel, editor of the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman,
said he was delighted by Harshaw’s election. Oppel praised the calm and
dedicated leadership Harshaw has shown during her six years on the board
of directors and her dedication in planning the group’s April 2000 convention.
“She comes from a smaller, Midwestern newspaper and will be sensitive
to the needs of editors in smaller newspapers,” Oppel added.
Harshaw began her newspaper career when she was 13, writing for a Dayton,
Ohio, minority paper. She joined the Dayton Daily News on a part-time basis
in high school and worked through the ranks of reporting, newsroom management
and overall newspaper administration before joining the News-Sun in 1990.
Harshaw has been active in ASNE since 1992. She has played key roles
in ASNE’s Education for Journalism and Ethics and Values committees, Journalism
Credibility Think Tank and Writing Awards Board. She also has served on
the Literacy and Minorities committees. Harshaw has been on ASNE’s board
of directors since 1995.
Harshaw joins Oppel; Tim J. McGuire, editor, Star Tribune, Minneapolis,
vice president; Diane H. McFarlin, publisher, Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune,
secretary; and Peter K. Bhatia, executive editor, The Oregonian, Portland,
treasurer, in ASNE’s leadership.
ASNE, founded in 1922, with nearly 900-members, is the main organization
of the directing editors of daily newspapers in the Americas. The organization
is leading efforts to increase diversity in America’s newsrooms, bolster
media credibility and improve high school journalism.
