Adams Simmons, Debra

Aspirations for ASNE

There is an opportunity for ASNE to help news leaders connect our traditional core values with modern delivery platforms. Maintaining our focus on outstanding journalism, leveraging the expertise of our newsrooms to tell local stories better than anyone else can, insuring that our newsrooms reflect the audience we're speaking to and upholding the continuing battle for access to information are critical priorities. Our journalism institutions also can benefit from the youth and vitality that the next generation of news leaders has to offer as we refine a strategic approach to digital delivery expectations. As an active member of several journalism organizations, I represent the mutual purpose that unites us.

Career

Debra Adams Simmons is editor of The Plain Dealer. Prior to being named editor, she was the paper's managing editor for three years. Debra also was the editor and managing editor of the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal. She was a deputy managing editor at The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, as well as serving as a metro editor, a specialties editor and a reporter at the Detroit Free Press, Hartford (Conn.) Courant and Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Journal.

In addition to ASNE, she is a member of the Associated Press Managing Editors board of directors, where she serves on the group's executive committee and is scheduled to be its president in 2014. Debra also is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

ASNE Activities

An ASNE member since 2004, Debra was appointed to the ASNE Awards Board and has served on the Diversity Committee, as well as a convention floor manager. She participated in an ASNE delegation to Mexico (navigating the bureaucracy of the American embassy when her passport was stolen during the 2007 trip).