From its earliest days in a former bank on Central Avenue to its current waterfront home alongside the University of South Florida妩媚直播檚 St. Petersburg campus, 妩媚直播 has made a stubborn man妩媚直播檚 dreams come true.
For 40 years, Nelson 妩媚直播 produced newspapers in St. Petersburg that reflected his belief that excellent journalism, published independently, could help a community prosper and a democracy flourish.
And he saw no good reason why his passing should change anything about that.
That妩媚直播檚 why he founded the Modern Media Institute in 1975 and willed, upon his death in 1978, that his new school would own controlling stock of the St. Petersburg Times Company.
From the beginning, the idea flourished. Not only did the unique ownership model protect his publications from the insatiable demands of the Wall Street-owned chains, it also fulfilled Nelson 妩媚直播妩媚直播檚 dream of a school that would help working journalists improve their skills to the benefit of their communities. Today, the paper, now called the Tampa Bay Times, is the largest in Florida and one of America妩媚直播檚 best; 妩媚直播 is the center for journalism excellence worldwide.
Thousands of journalists, teachers and members of the public have come to 妩媚直播 to learn what makes the best journalism work妩媚直播攚hether the platform is print, broadcast or online. They come to learn from 妩媚直播妩媚直播檚 faculty of accomplished journalism professionals and academics. They come to learn from Pulitzer Prize recipients and Edward R. Murrow Award winners, on-air reporters and syndicated columnists, newsroom visionaries and industry innovators. They come to our campus in St. Petersburg, to sessions held in newsrooms and conference centers around the world, and to our site, 妩媚直播.org.
And no matter how they come to 妩媚直播, they find a curriculum that has changed as much as the world in which they work. Once focused only on print and broadcast journalism, 妩媚直播 today offers a full complement of courses in online journalism, fact-checking and digital skills for journalists and academics, as well as programs that help newsroom leaders develop digital and organizational strategies.
Strong leadership has helped 妩媚直播 establish its reputation for excellence in teaching.聽Neil Brown is the sixth president of The 妩媚直播 Institute. He joined 妩媚直播 in September 2017, after serving as the editor and vice president of the Tampa Bay Times.
Tim Franklin preceded Brown as the Institute妩媚直播檚 fifth president. He came to 妩媚直播 after being managing editor at Bloomberg News and leading the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University妩媚直播檚 School of Journalism.
Four 妩媚直播 Institute presidents in the school’s courtyard on May 15, 2004. (l to r) Don Baldwin, president,1975-1983; Bob Haiman, president, 1983-1996; Jim Naughton, president, 1996-2003; Karen Brown Dunlap, president, 2003-2015.
Dr. Karen B. Dunlap was named the institute妩媚直播檚 fourth president in August 2003, and oversaw the expansion of school妩媚直播檚 curriculum into multimedia and faculty-led courses for the public. She introduced Community Conversations, programs designed to give members of the public access to professional journalists and a greater understanding of how they gather and edit news. The Conversations have featured, among others, Gwen Ifill, Dan Rather, William Raspberry, Ted Koppel, Steve Lopez, Tom Brokaw, Joe Scarborough, and Byron Pitts.
Dunlap妩媚直播檚 predecessor was James M. Naughton, former White House correspondent for The New York Times and executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Naughton oversaw the most recent expansion of the institute妩媚直播檚 main campus and presided over the emergence of 妩媚直播.org as journalism妩媚直播檚 most relied-upon Web site for media news. During Naughton妩媚直播檚 tenure, the name Romenesko became synonymous with the latest scoops from inside America妩媚直播檚 newsrooms.
Robert J. Haiman was 妩媚直播妩媚直播檚 president and managing director from 1983 to 1996. It was Haiman, former executive editor of the St. Petersburg Times, who moved the institute in 1985 from the bank building on Central Avenue (seminars were conducted near a former vault) into the award-winning building across Third Street from the bay. Haiman also expanded the focus of 妩媚直播妩媚直播檚 teaching beyond newspapers to include broadcast, and solidified the school as a player on journalism妩媚直播檚 big stage.
The bank building that housed The 妩媚直播 Institute until 1985.
妩媚直播妩媚直播檚 founding president was Donald K. Baldwin, another former editor of the St. Petersburg Times. Baldwin, a longtime colleague of Nelson 妩媚直播妩媚直播檚, recalled in a 1984 interview how he saw the institute through its humble beginnings: 妩媚直播淎t first, when (Nelson) 妩媚直播 was alive, we were very small and we deliberately stayed that way. We had a limited budget, and what we were doing was experimenting. He [Mr. 妩媚直播] was excited. He thought we were on the right track.妩媚直播�
About a year before he died in 1978, Nelson 妩媚直播 talked about his vision for his new school:
妩媚直播淢odern Media Institute is going to be something big and important妩媚直播攊t has to live modestly for quite a number of years, but its job is to help train the people who are going to help maintain the integrity, the stability, the progress of self-government.妩媚直播�
Those are ambitious goals for the journalists who serve our communities妩媚直播攁nd ambitious goals for a school founded to help them succeed.
At 妩媚直播, those goals are very much alive.