Brown, Neil

Aspirations for ASNE

Whether it’s a powerful investigative series, a moving narrative, or an interactive website that lets our readers explore our reporting on their own, distinctive journalism is the cornerstone of our news organizations and their financial potential.

And so ASNE must be an organization that motivates such work rather than laments the challenges to it. ASNE must reflect the characteristics of great newsrooms: energy and edge, risk-taking, smarts and outrage, excitement and passion, a sense of mission.

That mission must include aggressive leadership in the legal fight – and the public relations battle – against efforts to erode our First Amendment protections. ASNE can be a clearinghouse for the tools to do great journalism and a resource to help newsrooms small and large access information to help our communities thrive. ASNE must tell the story – over and over with words and deeds – about why journalism matters in a free society.

ASNE is most effective as an organization that widens the horizons of its members. ASNE should build on its strong relationships with the print, online and broadcast journalism institutions to sort out the thorniest issues we all face in serving a fragmented audience. It should direct substantial energy toward bringing editors together with leaders and experts from nonjournalistic fields, such as politics and business.

By being smarter about the world outside the newsroom – with ASNE’s help – we will be better innovators and managers in a fast-changing industry. And along the way, we’ll find the stories that make our journalism exciting, meaningful and distinctive.

Career

Neil Brown was named executive editor and vice president of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times in August 2004. Brown served nine years as managing editor and joined the Times Publishing Company’s board in 1997 as a director. In 2001 he was elected a vice president of the newspaper’s parent, Times Publishing Co. A native of Chicago, Brown joined the Times in 1993 overseeing national and international affairs as World Editor after serving four years in Washington as managing editor of Congressional Quarterly. CQ, an affiliate of Times Publishing, produces a weekly magazine covering Congress and national politics. Before joining CQ, Brown spent eight years as a reporter and editor at The Miami Herald, covering government and politics in Miami and at bureaus in Key West, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach. Brown is a current member of the Professional Advisory Board of the University of Illinois School of Journalism. Brown is past-president of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. A resident of St. Petersburg, Brown lives with his wife, journalist and author Gelareh Asayesh, and their two children.

ASNE Activities

An incumbent, Brown was elected to the Board in 2008. He joined ASNE in 2000. He has co-chaired The American Editor Committee and chaired the International and Ethics and Values committees. He has also served on the Freedom of Information Committee and as a convention floor manager and is on the ASNE Awards Board.