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Updated: Monday, December 24, 2007
Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 |
William W. Sutton, Jr.
1999-2001
Essay by Michael Days
When William W. Sutton Jr. met NABJ's first president back in 1977, the seeds were sown then for him to become the association's 13th chief executive officer two decades later. Sutton had just graduated from Hampton University and was attending his first NABJ's second convention. He had a decision to make: either take his first full-time reporting job or head off to law school. Chuck Stone was not only NABJ's founding president, he was even then a larger than life presence and a journalistic icon. But there he was, standing in front of his room at the down-on-its-luck Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, reviewing Sutton's resume and clips. Stone urged the young Sutton to forget about more schooling and to get moving, to get in the game because both journalism and NABJ needed him. Awed by his presence, commitment and energy, I followed his advice, Sutton wrote in 1999.
Indeed, he did.
When Sutton announced that he would run for president those of us who had worked closely with him were not the least bit surprised. He had largely done for many others what Stone had done for him.
In the process, Sutton had become an unyielding champion for diversity and inclusion. A former national parliamentarian for the group, he had become one of NABJ's most vocal and visible representatives.
His rise into more than a few high-level newsroom positions had not quieted his zeal. He had been both managing editor and editor at the Post-Tribune in Gary, Ind., and held a number of high-ranking posts at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N. C. , before resigning in June 2005.
Announcing his intention, and then being elected NABJ president in 1999, was really just the natural next step.
Because of his tenacity, his passion I got involved, said Vanessa Williams, an editor at The Washington Post.
She went from wondering why she should commit time and effort to following him as president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists in the late'80s, to years later preceding him as national president. Will and I didn't always agree on NABJ policy, but I never questioned or doubted his sincere love for black journalists, Williams said.
His love for black journalists was so evident during his tenure that Sutton was certainly one of the most-traveled presidents. He clocked more than 85,000 air miles, meeting with black journalists in every location and every venue imaginable, from regional meetings in Quad City, Iowa, to quick huddles with members during layovers in airports across the country.
If there were a few NABJ folk who wanted me to come, I'd go, Sutton said. I'd always say how can I connect with NABJ folks and see what is on their minds.
That practice was calculated, said Herbert Lowe, who served as vice president-print during Sutton's administration and became NABJ president in 2003.
Will very much returned the focus to the chapters, Lowe said.
At the same time, Sutton also insisted that NABJ hold chapters accountable in meeting the requirements for formal affiliation. To know Sutton is to know that he is a stickler on detail.
Sutton also was insistent on creating skills-based training so that both members at the beginning of their careers and others at mid-career could properly adjust to the ever-changing job market, Lowe said.
Sutton's strategy to see and be seen by NABJ's membership, as well as provide much-needed services seemed to resonate. During his tenure, the organization's membership swelled for the first time to more than 3, 300.
In addition, Sutton's steeliness on two of NABJ's core mission issues helping journalists of African descent get jobs and keep jobs kept him constantly encouraging and cajoling the industry's leadership. He was often quoted in the industry's trades and beyond.
In fact, when in 2001 the American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual newsroom employment census found that the number of journalists of color had declined for the first time in 23 years, Sutton was particularly strident, representing our interests without trepidation.
I simply don't understand why so many top editors are so willing to mouth the right words but go into their offices and do the same things, Sutton said then. If this were an advertising, circulation or a general revenue problem, I'm sure more people would be paying attention and there would be more positive results.
Still, Suttons influence on NABJ, before and during his presidency, was not without its share of controversy. Sutton, along with Juan Gonzalez, cooked up the idea for an umbrella group that would represent all journalists of color when the two were competing City Hall reporters in Philadelphia back in the late '80s.
Sutton worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer; Gonzalez covered the hall for the Daily News and would later become president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Since then, Sutton has been steadfast in his belief that NABJ should be a proactive partner in the alliance called Unity: Journalists of Color, and that journalists of color are more powerful when they work together for change.
But between the first such meeting in Atlanta, in1994, and the second in Seattle, in 1999, there was vocal debate about the worth of Unity. In fact, Williams wondered publicly about its worth during her NABJ presidency.
Walter T. Middlebrook, now a deputy Long Island editor for Newsday and a former NABJ board member, supported former Essence magazine editor Robin Stone in her hotly contested race to succeed Williams. Still, Middlebrook admires Sutton for his consistent posture on the Unity movement.
I have to give Will credit, Middlebrook said. When others wanted to pull us out, Will stood firm.
On other matters such as Sutton's push to reduce the number of positions on the national board and a financial crisis fueled by too many unfunded programs and a rocky and unforgiving stock market Sutton doesn't shrug responsibility for some of the missteps.
History, no doubt, will be the ultimate judge.
In fact, his push for a smaller board was purely strategic. Early on in NABJ's history most board members would pay their own freight to board meetings and other events. By the time Sutton became president most companies had backed of that commitment and, more of ten than not, NABJ was paying board members' expenses.
Sutton freely admits that he pushed for a smaller board partially to reduce NABJ's administrative costs.
When I first proposed it, you would have thought I was the devil, he said with a laugh.
Apparently, enough NABJ members bought his message and voted in 2004 to reduce the number of board members from 9 to 14.
Because I love the organization so much I know we needed to make significant change, Sutton said. I was looking beyond my term for NABJ's future success. I was always looking for the longer-lasting impact.
Even with the challenges, Sutton contends that he has been blessed by his once in a lifetime opportunity. |
Foreword
