Mindy Marques on winning the National Press Foundation’s Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award, February 13, 2020
I am humbled and honored to be here today and in such great company.
Congratulations to all of tonight’s honorees.
This is a frightening time to be a journalist.
News organizations across the country — particularly local media companies like the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald — are in the fight of our lives.
And this battle has many fronts, from our upended financial model and its resulting disruption
… to the 24-hour news cycle and the 30-second attention span
… to “Fake News,” alternative facts and “truthiness.”
Journalism, and journalists, are under assault, both literally and figuratively.
In these times, it takes a special kind of courage to do what we do — from our veteran reporters who have resisted the stability offered by a teaching position or a public relations job …
… to this generation of young journalists, who have enlisted in this cause — in spite of all that is ailing us — for the chance to do work that matters.
I am proud and privileged to lead the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald, as well as the Bradenton Herald on Florida’s west coast.
… fiercely talented, passionate and scrappy newsrooms …
… that exhibit this special kind of courage and determination in spades.
… In just the last couple of years, our Miami newsroom has
… brought a wealthy pedophile to justice and forced the resignation of a cabinet member;
… detailed a decade of abuse in Florida’s juvenile justice system
… disclosed how President Donald Trump has become a favorite target of a little-known Chinese industry peddling access to the rich and powerful
… and explored Haiti’s recovery — and remaining challenges — 10 years after the devastating earthquake.
Those are just a few of the stories produced by our newsrooms, which our investigative editor aptly calls “an ass-kicking journalism factory.”
This critical and mission-driven work is possible because I work with the best in the business — Rick Hirsch, MH Managing Editor and Nancy San Martin, Managing Editor of ENH, who is here today.
They — and our team of extraordinary editors — give fear direction by focusing on the one thing we can control — telling compelling, local stories that would otherwise go untold.
This work is also possible thanks to McClatchy’s unwavering commitment to local journalism, both the McClatchy family and our leadership, from CEO Craig Forman, to Kristin Roberts, VP of News, who is here today. Thanks also to my colleagues and peers — some who are here tonight — who pursue our mission with vigor across our 27 sister papers.
And I couldn’t do this without the decades-long support of my husband Fidel (a Cuban born in 1959) …
It takes a special kind of courage to be a journalist today … And across the country, in your newsrooms both large and small — the power of what we can — and must do — is on display.
Thank you for your courage — and for continuing to fight the good fight.
Thank you.
Mindy Marques is executive editor, president and publisher of the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and Bradenton Herald.
