Last Updated: January 26, 2000
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An American Editor
Register Star editor Linda Grist Cunningham finds Illinois
honesty refreshing, complementary to her style
Linda Grist Cunningham is executive editor of the Rockford (Ill.)
Register Star. She joined the Register Star in 1991 after almost 15 years
editing newspapers in New Jersey. She was executive editor of the Daily
Record in Parsippany, The Times in Trenton, and the old Paterson News and
Hudson Dispatch. She started her newspaper career at the weekly Buena Vista
(Va.) News and The Roanoke (Va.) Times. She has also been a reporter, copy
editor, wire editor, editorial page editor and assistant managing editor.
She is a 1972 graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. This
year, she was named Illinois Journalist of the Year.
Q. First off, after almost two decades working at East Coast newspapers,
why have you chosen to stay for almost 10 years in the Midwest?
A. There’s a fundamental honesty and decency in the Midwest culture
that simply isn’t always part of the East Coast psyche. As much as instant
information may have homogenized the country, there remains in the Midwest
the remnants of a wholesomeness and a deep-rooted sense of community that
have disappeared elsewhere. That translates into extraordinarily tight
bonds between the newspaper and the community we serve. We don’t talk about
“connecting with readers” out here; we are connected. A newspaper can thrive
in that environment, and I like being part of it.
Q. At ASNE’s April convention, we heard results of a study that showed
68 percent of those readers responding say there is bias in the news media.
How big of an issue is that in your newsroom, in your readers’ eyes?
A. It’s a huge issue, for me, for my readers, for the industry. I’ve
maintained for years that the industry’s conviction that it should be —
and is — “objective” has created a blind spot for us. We are so bent on
convincing everyone that we are “objective” in our approach to the news
that we’ve fabricated the myth that we actually are objective. Newsrooms
and journalists can strive for neutrality in our approaches, but we’ve
never been, nor are we now, objective. Readers know that, but until recently,
far too many journalists have refused to recognize our inherent biases
and the ways they affect us — even subliminally — in our coverage. We pick
and choose words, stories and visual elements that convey powerful meaning
and emotion, and as we do so, we bring every bias — good and bad — into
those decisions. Is it any wonder readers sense that bias? It’s time we
acknowledge we are humans with all the concomitant biases and get on with
figuring out how to minimize them in our coverage.
Q. How do you balance the need for fair and impartial news coverage
and your strong editorial leadership?
A. The Register Star’s editorial board has a century and a half of editorial
leadership with countless examples of using its power to galvanize the
community to action. At the same time, for most of the past 75 years, there
has been only one daily newspaper in the Rock River Valley (the afternoon
and morning newspapers were owned and published by the same people.)
Inevitably, that could and did result in blurring the lines between
news coverage and editorial leadership. Since the editorial page editor
and the managing editor report to me, I’d be disingenuous if I were to
claim that the lines never cross today. But there are checks and balances
formally in place that preclude unreasonable crossover.
The editorial board has eight voting members, including the publisher;
my vote is but one. The editorial board doesn’t “assign” stories, nor the
newsroom “request” editorials. But, do both sides know pretty much what
the other is doing on investigative projects or enterprise? Certainly,
and, indeed, we often couple strong, agenda-setting editorials with our
major projects. The line separating the two is a thin one, and we know
it. We work very hard to preserve its integrity.
Q. Are you an advocate of civic journalism? Have you seen a downside
to the movement?
A. If civic journalism is defined as digging into the community we serve,
identifying its critical issues, aggressively reporting the challenges
and the successes, exploring the solutions and setting an editorial agenda
to achieve those solutions, then I’m not only an advocate of civic journalism,
I’m it’s poster child. Some silly things may have been done in the name
of “civic journalism,” but practiced ethically, responsibly and authoritatively,
civic or public journalism is simply today’s buzzword for good newspapering.
Q. Your newspaper adopted companywide principles for ethical conduct
for newsrooms. How has that been received by your staff? Any community
reaction?
A. Hands down, the formal implementation of the principles of ethical
conduct was the best thing I’ve seen happen in a newsroom.
These aren’t rules that limit aggressive journalism, but principles
that enhance our power to move a community. My staff and I share a common
language, yet we know that we will not always agree in our interpretations.
The clearly defined objectives ensure we have the mechanisms to resolve
the inevitable and anticipated conflicts among the principles.
Q. How often do you write columns giving readers an inside look at
the newspaper’s process? How important is that?
A. I’ve written a weekly column since 1981. It began exclusively as
an exploration of why newsrooms and newspapers did what they did. Over
almost 20 years, I’ve used the column more broadly but it has always maintained
at least a handhold on its original intent.
The column does three things: It gives me a personal outlet to explain
our core values and how they affect what we do in the News Tower; it is
a wonderful vehicle to explain the daily doings of the newsroom; and, upon
occasion, it provides me with a pulpit from which to do some “writing mad,”
which is a glorious way of getting something off my chest. The column also
serves as a weekly reminder of just how hard it is to report and write
— and all too often editors forget that lesson.
Q. The Register Star has adopted an innovative, or what some may
term unusual, format on its front page. Could you explain the approach
and how have readers responded?
A. Heck, some would — and have — called it irresponsible (she said with
a smile.) But, guess what? Readers love it and even the hardcore cynics
in our newsroom have been won over.
In May, after almost two years of research and development, we upended
the traditional front page and replaced it with a seven-day summary of
the top of the news. The whole page, not just a rail of briefs down the
side; not just on Sunday, every day. The front page is designed for readers
in a hurry. One can read the front and know what’s happening in town, in
the state, nation, world, business and sports. Each story is complete.
For readers with more time, traditional, bylined versions are inside. This
is not a front page of “hypes” and “blurbs.” It’s serious, complete news,
written tightly. A single writer culls the day’s news and writes through
the entire page.
Is it a success? With readers, it’s a slam-dunk, but we won’t be able
to cite chapter and verse stats until we complete market research next
spring. We need a year to measure its success and acceptance. In the meantime,
we’re just enjoying the fact it was the right thing for us to do.
Q. What are the greatest challenges you face as an editor, things
you didn’t have to deal with in the old days?
A. I came into this business in 1972, just as the “old days” were ending.
With my generation, so to speak, came more women and other minorities.
With us came changes in the good-ol’-boy network. Whatever I know of the
old days comes from the handful of curmudgeons who haven’t yet cut their
retirement cakes.
You won’t hear much whining from me about bureaucracy and administration.
Yeah, it’s more than before and it’s a pain, but I’ve been doing newsroom
budgets since 1978 and handling written performance appraisals and discrimination
lawsuits since just before. You learn to do it, then get it done and get
on with newspapering.
So, what do these “new days” bring? We have to work harder. We must
recruit constantly. We must stroke and feed, train and reward, good journalists.
We must insist on a work environment that balances personal and work life.
We must pay our staffs better. This may be a priestly vocation, but we
shouldn’t have to take vows of poverty. We need more copy editors, and
we need remedial grammar and spelling lessons.
Q. How do you balance the pressures of your job with the interests
of family, friends and your own well-being?
A. I could tell you the politically correct things about family and
friends coming first, but the truth is in a story I tell on my husband:
I always called him when I was leaving the office, concluding with a
“be home in a just a little while.” But sometimes it would be hours later
when I’d roll in because there’d be one more person to see, one more story
to take a look at. So, Ed came up with his own coping strategy. “If you’re
not in bed when I roll over in the morning, but I haven’t gotten a call
from the state cops, I’ll assume everything is fine.” We’ve lasted almost
25 years that way.
The newspaper business is a passion, and passions take their tolls on
those around us. I’ve learned over the years to bank those fires on occasion.
I rarely work at home; I guard our weekends and vacations jealously; I
work out five times a week; and we read aloud to our son every night until
he left for college. But the newsroom’s siren song has always been my melody.
Q. What do you consider your leadership style? Has it changed over
the years?
A. I’m that proverbial cockeyed optimist, always in search of a creative
idea, a visionary solution, another path to follow around the bend. I was
born a Pied Piper, and I suspect I’ll die one. Still, I’ve learned over
the years that my leadership style is wholly ineffective without strong
detail people as part of the team. Learning to balance the visions and
the realities is a tremendous lesson.
Q. My daughter’s starting college this fall. She’s thinking about
journalism, but I’m reluctant to give her too much advice about it. What
would you tell her about a life in news, or just life for that matter?
A. Go for it, girl. It’s a great and challenging world out there, and
there’s no better place to be than smack-dab at the top of the News Tower.
Callinan is editor of the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.
