From the President
The Newspaper Fund Prepares for the Future

Richard J. Levine

Since being named president of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund in May, 2005, I have focused on two objectives: familiarizing myself with the operations of this distinguished non-profit organization that has done so much for journalism in the past five decades and planning for its future.

With the help of Executive Director Rich Holden and his staff, I was able to learn quickly how the Fund functions. As in any organization, there is room for improvement and rethinking. But as I have reached out to former interns, journalism professionals and educators, I have been delighted to hear them say that the DJNF is doing vital work very well.

�There�s nothing else like it,� one journalism professor at a major public university told me. �The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund is a treasure.�

As the 50th anniversary of the Fund�s founding approaches in 2008, our aim is to strengthen the organization for its second half-century. Toward this end, we are developing a formal three-year strategic plan for the first time. And while the planning continues under the supervision of the board of directors, I can share with you some of the priorities emerging from that work.

First, we want to continue to broaden the Fund�s board, a process that has already started with the addition last November of two directors: James H. Ottaway, Jr., who was chairman and CEO of Ottaway Newspapers until his retirement, and Diana Mitsu Klos, senior project director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

We also want to expand and strengthen the college internships and find new sources of funding for this core program. Other priorities include updating how we work with high school students and advisers, reconnecting with some 4,000 former college interns, and redesigning and modernizing the Fund�s Web site.

At a time of great challenge for the newspaper industry, my fellow directors and I remain committed to building well on the superb work done by the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund since its birth. We invite you to help us in this effort.

As we tackle these tasks, let me assure you that I know from personal experience the immense impact that the DJNF can have on the career choices of young people and on the quality of journalism in the United States. As an 18-year-old student at Cornell University in 1960, I was chosen to participate in the very first class of reporting interns. I spent that summer as the front-page editor and part-time sports writer at The Ithaca Journal, a Gannett paper in western New York State.

Those few months convinced me that there was no finer, more rewarding career than journalism.


Richard J. Levine