Poynter Names Pulitzer Prize-winning Former Chicago Tribune Editor and Nieman Curator Ann Marie Lipinski As Trustee

ESPN Senior VP Rob King Also Named New Chair of Poynter's National Advisory Board

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Dec 05, 2014, 12:52 ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Dec. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ann Marie Lipinski, the curator of Harvard's Nieman Foundation and the former editor of the Chicago Tribune, has been named a member of The Poynter Institute's Board of Trustees. And, Poynter announced today that ESPN Senior Vice President Rob King will become chair of its National Advisory Board next month.

Lipinski, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, has led one of America's largest and most honored newsrooms at the Chicago Tribune, and since then has served in senior leadership positions at the University of Chicago and Harvard University.

Lipinski currently serves as curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, the home of the Nieman Fellows program, widely considered the most prestigious fellowship program for journalists in the world. The foundation also is the home of Nieman Reports, a quarterly magazine on journalism issues and the popular Nieman Journalism Lab website. Before going to Harvard, Lipinski was the Vice President for Civic Engagement and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.

Lipinski joins the Poynter board next month. She will replace Dr. Maria Vesperi, a professor of anthropology at New College of Florida, whose term is expiring.

"Maria has been an extraordinary trustee, and we are fortunate that someone of Ann Marie's capacity will follow her," said Paul Tash, chairman and CEO of Times Publishing Co. and chairman of Poynter's Board of Trustees.

At the Chicago Tribune, Lipinski led the newsroom for more than seven years, a stretch in which the newspaper won Pulitzer Prizes for international, explanatory, investigative, feature and editorial writing. She also served as managing editor and metropolitan editor of the Tribune. Lipinski won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for her reporting on corruption in Chicago's City Council. Later, Lipinski served on the Pulitzer Prize Board and eventually became its co-chair.

"It's no exaggeration to say that Ann Marie and Rob are two of the most brilliant and innovative journalistic minds in America today," said Poynter President Tim Franklin. "Ann Marie is a natural born leader — someone who inspired and challenged the Chicago Tribune newsroom in the pursuit of dynamic journalism that served the public. For the past several years, she's injected that same passion and leadership into her work in the academic world at two of the nation's most prestigious universities. All of these attributes make her an ideal choice for the board at Poynter, which serves both the journalism industry and the academy."

"I am honored to join the board at Poynter, which plays such an important role in journalism education and which contributed to my own growth as a journalist," Lipinski said. "I'm especially excited to work again with those on the board and at Poynter whose contributions to journalism have been so important and whose values I have long admired."

Tash added, "Ann Marie and Rob have distinguished themselves as practitioners, and as stewards of some of the most important and successful organizations in journalism. Poynter will draw deeply on their talent, experience and wisdom."

Poynter's new National Advisory Board chair, Rob King, directs all newsgathering operations at ESPN and oversees SportsCenter. He has served in that role since January 2014. Earlier this year, King was named by Fast Company magazine as one of its most creative people of 2014. Before that, he was Senior Vice President, Content, ESPN Digital & Print Media. He also managed a team of more than 200 editors, writers and designers on ESPN.com and its affiliated sites, including espnW and ESPN The Magazine.

King will succeed David Boardman as chair of Poynter's advisory board. Boardman, the dean of the Temple University School of Media and Communication and the former editor of the Seattle Times, will leave the board in January when his term expires.

"When Tim and David Boardman approached me with this opportunity, the only word that came to mind was, 'Humbling'," King said. "Poynter has always been precious to me, and its mission to nurture journalists and the craft of journalism is nothing less than a higher calling. This new assignment simply strains credulity, and I will do everything I can to meet its lofty requirements."

"It's been my honor to serve as chair of the National Advisory Board during a time of major transition for Poynter," said David Boardman, commenting on his term ending. "Poynter is clearly on a positive trajectory and continues to be a powerful force in improving journalism here and around the globe."

As chair, King will oversee an advisory board that helps guide Poynter's strategic direction and teaching. The board includes some of America's top journalistic and academic leaders.

"It's no accident that Rob is leading one of the most innovative and successful multi-platform news powerhouses anywhere," Franklin said. "Poynter's National Advisory Board is fortunate to have someone with Rob's acumen for how to serve news audiences in this rapidly evolving digital world."

About The Poynter Institute 
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is global leader in journalism education, and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum in 7 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 300,000 registered users in more than 200 countries. The Institute's website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.

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