Butch Ward, a former managing editor of
The Philadelphia Inquirer, has been named a Distinguished Fellow of The Poynter Institute.
Ward, who attended his first Poynter seminar in the early 1980s, will serve Poynter in a number of ways, including teaching in Institute seminars about writing and leadership, writing for Poynter Online, and representing Poynter in newsrooms around the country.
In announcing the appointment, Poynter President Karen Brown Dunlap said: "Butch brings newsroom experience, credibility with news leaders, and a passion for improving craft and strengthening values."
She pointed out that her recent selection of Keith Woods as the new dean of faculty had come from within the Poynter faculty and that she was seeking "an additional voice from outside of Poynter." She said Ward "will help us continue to build our contacts with journalists, to understand their concerns and serve their needs."
Ward, 52, served as managing editor of the
Inquirer from 1996 until July 2001. For the past three years, he has worked for Independence Blue Cross as vice president for corporate and public affairs.
"Ever since I saw my first city editor throw a telephone when we failed to get a breaking story into the last edition of the paper, I've valued the role that passion plays in the pursuit of good journalism," Ward said. "Thirty years later, phones are a lot lighter, but the best journalists I know still are very passionate about their work and the values that drive it."
Of his new job, he said: "I want to hear their stories and share them with as many other journalists as possible. I also want to help journalists connect some dots between their work and the people who are affected by it. What role do our newsrooms play in the communities we serve? Are we marketing to them or covering them? Do people depend on us? Do we contribute to the public debate?
"I once heard a paper's impact described as 'tossing a tomato against a brick wall.' We can do better --our communities need us to do better -- and I'm honored that Poynter has asked me to join the conversation about how we can do better."
Ward was born in Baltimore as a "William."
But he said the name didn't stick: "Within four days, my father gave me the nickname that nuns, editors, and at least six mortgage companies have since attempted to convince me to abandon. People won’t take you seriously, they told me. So I kept the name and became a journalist."
After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Notre Dame, Ward joined the Baltimore
News American and over the next eight years worked as a rewrite reporter, suburban editor, metro editor, news editor, and managing editor.
He joined the
Inquirer in 1981 and worked as New Jersey editor, assistant managing editor, metropolitan editor, and assistant to the publisher before becoming managing editor.
Ward and his wife, Donna, have a son, Coley, 24, and a daughter, Caitlin, 18, and occasionally perform with what they describe as a "mostly Beatles band."
Ward, who will continue to live in Philadelphia, begins work for Poynter in January.
