Howard Saltz: Newsman
Introduction to Howard Saltz. 0:23 sec. Interview: Raymond Elman. Videography: Zulema Peralta. Recorded: 10/17/2018, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale
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Pulitzer Prize-winning editor HOWARD SALTZ (b.1960) has spent a lifetime in journalism. He got his first newspaper byline at age 12, when a weekly in the Bronx, N.Y. published his essay in its annual Mother’s Day writing contest.
He graduated from the State University of New York and started his journalism career in 1983 as a reporter. Shortly thereafter he joined MediaNews Group as an editor. At the Denver Post he became Deputy Managing Editor and Digital Editor. As MediaNews Group grew, Saltz became the Vice President for digital content, working on content strategies with publishers and journalists from more than 50 daily newspapers in 11 states.
Most recently he was the Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. At the Sun-Sentinel he was responsible for all newspaper content, as well as its digital news products, the Spanish-language El Sentinel, and the entertainment website SouthFlorida.com. In 2013, the Sun-Sentinel won the most prestigious award in journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service.
Saltz is currently the Knight Foundation Innovator-in-Residence at Florida International University.
The videos below are organized by topic and run between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.
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PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS: 1:03 min.
What was your first awareness of journalism and when did you realize you wanted to be a journalist?
SELF-CONFIDENCE: 0:34 sec.
When you were reading newspapers as a schoolboy, did you have any peers who shared your interests?
DEVELOP A VOICE: 1:04 min.
When did you develop a passion for the Yankees?
SEIZES OPURTUNITIES: 1:26 min.
Where did you go to college and what did you learn that still informs you today?
RESPECTS OTHERS POINTS OF VIEW: 1:26 min.
Who have been your role models and influencers?
SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES: 2:22 min.
Describe the arc of your early career?
COMMUNITY VALUES: 1:05 min.
What news publications and broadcast programs do you watch now, and how has that evolved over the course of your career?
CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND: 1:12 min.
Do you follow particular journalists?
EMPATHY: 1:32 min.
The use of anonymous sources has been controversial for a long time. What are your thoughts?
SERENDIPITY: 4:05 min.
You have been a first-hand witness to the decline of the publishing industry. What was your first inkling that the industry was in trouble?
UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART: 2:24 min.
What should the news industry do to combat the attack on its credibility?
UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART: 3:13 min.
ArtSpeak content tends to be “evergreen” we don’t practice “gotcha journalism.” So we provide our interviewees with a question set in advance, and give them “final cut” on the video—mainly to make sure our story is accurate and present each person the way they see themselves. What are your thoughts about our approach?
RESILIENCE: 1:27 min.
How do you respond to an interview subject claiming that one of your reporters misquoted them?
RESILIENCE: 2:03 min.
Describe a challenging situation with a successful outcome.
UNDERSTANDS THE AUDIENCE’S PERSPECTIVE: 2:17 min.
When you first moved to South Florida, what was the state of news organizations, and how has that evolved during your time here?
INSIGHT & INSPIRTAION: 1:39 min.
Fidelity Investments bought a number of small town newspapers in New England and centralized certain functions like accounting and advertising to get economies of scale. Has that happened in South Florida?
UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART: 1:41 min.
CBS Sunday Morning has had three major hosts, but the quality and pacing of the stories remains the same. How has that type of consistency played out in your career?
EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES: 1:14 min.
Are there other TV news programs that you watch with regularity?
UNDERSTAND ARTISTS’ NEEDS: 1:47 min.
It seems like the broadcasting and publication of opinion and commentary have exploded in the past decade.
CRITICAL THINKING: 1:52 min.
Business reporting was ubiquitous and almost sexy at the turn of the 21st century. Now I never bump into it. What happened?
OPEN TO CHANGE, FLEXIBILITY: 5:07 min.
How has the news audience evolved during your career?
COLLABORATION: 1:53 min.
What are your thoughts about podcasting?
CREATIVE FLEXIBILITY: 4:32 min.
Describe some of your favorite projects?
SELF-CONFIDENCE: 3:03 min.
Tom Wolfe famously called Sunny Isles Beach, home to Russian oligarchs and thugs, “Mother Russia.” Are South Florida journalists afraid of the consequences of digging too deeply into the Sunny Isles Beach story?
CRITICAL THINKING: 0:54 sec.
Films like “All the Presidents Men” and “Spotlight” romanticize the role of journalists and inspire others to join the profession. Did you notice an uptick of job applications after “Spotlight” won the Oscar for Best Picture?
DEVELOP A VOICE: 1:46 min.
Prior to the 2018 elections, the press and the courts were the main check and balance on the Trump presidency?
UNDERSTANDS THE AUDIENCE’S PERSPECTIVE: 2:55 min.
How would you respond to Trump supporters who believe that journalists are reporting fake news?
OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED: 2:22 min.
Give us another example of a challenging situation with a successful outcome.
EMPATHY: 1:21 min.
What’s your favorite movie?
COMMUNITY VALUES: 1:26 min.
What publishing roles do you preform best?
COLLABORATION: 3:20 min.
What methods did you use to expand readership at the Sun-Sentinel?
