I was saddened to read an email last night from a George Rede, a friend and mentor from the Oregonian. George wrote to tell a few of us about the death of Deborah Howell, the former ombudsman for the Washington Post. She died while on vacation in New Zealand.
I called Deborah several times to get advice early in my career. If it weren’t for her, I never would have accepted a job with Lee Enterprises. More on that in bit, first, here’s what George had to say in his blog about Deborah. “She was a sharp and talented editor who led the Pioneer Press to two Pulitzer Prizes, including the groundbreaking “AIDS in the Heartland” series in 1987 that help raise awareness of the deadly disease a generation ago. She was widely viewed as a role model by other talented women editors and reporters who came after her. Yet, if the public knew of her at all, it was probably in the context of her last job, as the Post’s ombudswoman, charged with holding staff members of one of the country’s great newspapers accountable for accuracy, bias and other missteps.
As for myself, I feel privileged to have worked behind the scenes with Deborah for the past two decades on one of the most meaningful things a person can do for others — that is, to help select college scholarship recipients. Every year the Newhouse Foundation would put up $100,000 in scholarship money to be distributed in partnership with the four national minority journalist associations representing African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and Latinos.
Deborah asked me, as a fellow Newhouse editor, to work with her every year to select the National Association of Hispanic Journalists scholarship recipients and, on an intermittent basis, to help choose winners for the other three associations. Imagine the boost of confidence you’d receive it you won up to $5,000 a year from NAHJ or one of the other associations — a tangible expression of faith in your potential to become a newspaper journalist as well as a much-appreciated infusion of financial assistance, especially for first-generation college students.
To this day, I can recall the names of so many Newhouse scholarship recipients who later also became interns and/or staff members at The Oregonian: Melissa Navas, Ira Porter, Jodi Rave, Melissa Sanchez. Equally important, we helped hundreds of others who caught on elsewhere, thereby helping to diversify America’s newsrooms.
I always looked forward to the selection process, hearing both the passion and impatience in Deborah’s voice, as we considered each candidate. She was genuinely happy to assist deserving students, yet unapologetically dismissive of those who submitted sloppy applications. It was then she used that famously salty language to comment on someone’s unfocused or error-filled essay. Yet I knew she wasn’t being condescending. She, too, wanted young people to stretch themselves and be able to make a difference in journalism, but we both knew that effort had to begin with a rigorous self-examination, attention to detail, and demonstrated ability to get things done well and on time.”
Here’s what the Washington Post wrote about her: “Ms. Howell, who published two Pulitzer Prize-winning projects when she was a top editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was a powerful presence in American journalism and was a particularly inspirational figure to women in a field long dominated by men. She was among the most well-connected people in the business and prided herself on ferreting out the complete list of Pulitzer Prize finalists — supposedly a closely guarded secret — before anyone else. She also had a sharp eye for talent, and many of the journalists she nurtured in Minnesota or at Newhouse have become nationally recognized figures.”
I’m thankful Deborah was as tough as she was. She minced no words when I called her to tell her I accepted an interview request from the Lincoln Journal Star in 1998. By the end of the conversation, she told me to go to Nebraska and make it clear to the editors exactly what I wanted in a reporting job. She told me not to settle for anything else. I went to my interview filled with confidence she instilled. She told me I had nothing to lose if they didnt’ meet my expectations. At the time, I was employed at another newspaper.
I went to Nebraska for an interview with the editors at the Lincoln Journal Star, including Joe Starita, Kathy Rutledge and David Stoeffler. They wanted me to be a business reporter. I held tight to Deborah’s advice. I told the LJS editors I’d rather report on American Indians. I explained why. They listened. I ended up spending the next decade as an award winning national repoter covering Native issues for Lee Enterprises. The best of those years were spent at the Lincoln Journal Star with a team of editors I respect and admire to this day. I resigned from Lee Enterprises in 2009 to work on a book about Elouise Cobell and the Interior Department’s management of Indian land. I did so after learning the craft of storytelling from people who believed in me.
Thank you Deborah.
Peace and love.
Jodi Rave
