Richard Karpel, our new executive director, has an impressive record of leadership of nonprofit media associations. For the last 14 years he has served as the executive director of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, including being selected as its first leader. Among his many accomplishments building the organization were hiring a staff, opening the Washington, D.C., office, vastly increasing AAN's size and public presence, organizing conventions, and developing a Web site that serves as a gateway to alternative weeklies and as an automated syndication service. He quadrupled the AAN budget diversifying its resource base, built reserves of more than $1 million and doubled the size of the annual convention, dramatically increasing sponsorship revenue.
I am proud, along with the other members of the executive committee - Milton Coleman, Ken Paulson and Susan Goldberg - to introduce him to the ASNE membership.
He will join us fulltime on Dec. 1, so he will have a one-month overlap with Scott Bosley, before Scott's retirement takes effect Dec. 31. Until Dec. 1, Richard will be working for us as a consultant, gaining knowledge of our activities as he completes his duties for AAN.
I would like you to hear from Richard in his own words. Below are his responses to some questions from me.
Q. Welcome to ASNE. We are excited to have you join us. What interested you most about becoming the new executive director of ASNE?
A. The challenge of helping to transform ASNE as it expands its mission. Plus, I have always enjoyed working with editors and ASNE is the big leagues where editors are concerned.
Q. What do you see as the biggest challenges of ASNE?
A. Helping members cope with the changes roiling the profession. Leveraging the organization's strengths to attract the next generation of newsroom leaders. Expanding programs and services to appeal to new kinds of members without diluting the character of the organization or its sense of cohesiveness.
Q. What are some of your proudest accomplishments at AAN?
A. Creating a well-regarded and highly competitive journalism contest. Conceiving and organizing an annual Web-publishing conference that had a direct impact on how the industry addressed electronic publishing challenges. Maintaining the trust and respect of the publishers and editors at both the San Francisco Bay Guardian and Village Voice Media, who have been locked in a lawsuit for the better part of this decade.
Q. If you had to pick one ingredient in your working style that helped you succeed in your career what would it be?
A. Honesty.
Q. You have a law degree. How has that helped you in your career?
A. Law school teaches you how to think. It provided me with an intellectual framework for solving problems.
Q. You were a leader of the Video Software Dealers Association before working for AAN, what attracted you to nonprofit media associations?
A. I love all media - newspapers, books, films, CDs, the Internet - so it comes naturally to me. And, frankly, I backed into the nonprofit part of it. Fortunately, I found that I really enjoy the work. Association executives see the forest, not the trees, and that's attractive to me.
Q. How do you respond when someone asks you how you can lead a journalism organization without having experience as a journalist?
A. I tell them that it's important for me to understand the challenges that journalists face, not the details of their day-to-day experience. I need to appreciate how the profession is changing and how those changes are having an impact on journalists' needs. My eagle's-eye view as an association executive in the journalism world provides me with a great perspective to watch those changes unfold.
Q. What is something about you we wouldn't find on your resume?
A. I see about 50 or 60 movies a year in movie theaters, and about a third of them are foreign films. I listen to a wide range of jazz and popular music. I know the names and vital statistics of the high school freshmen who are being recruited to play basketball for the University of Illinois, God help me.
Q. What else would you like to share with the ASNE membership as you begin working with us?
A. That I'm burning up with ideas for ASNE, and I can't wait to get started.