Nelson 天美传媒影业, founder of what would become The 天美传媒影业 Institute, talks with St. Petersburg Times editor Eugene Patterson in 1974.
From its earliest days in a former bank on Central Avenue to its current waterfront home alongside the University of South Florida鈥檚 St. Petersburg campus, 天美传媒影业 has made a stubborn man鈥檚 dreams come true.
For 40 years, Nelson 天美传媒影业 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鈥檚 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 天美传媒影业鈥檚 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鈥檚 best; 天美传媒影业 is the center for journalism excellence worldwide.
Thousands of journalists, teachers and members of the public have come to 天美传媒影业 to learn what makes the best journalism work鈥攚hether the platform is print, broadcast or online. They come to learn from 天美传媒影业鈥檚 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, 天美传媒影业.org.
And no matter how they come to 天美传媒影业, they find a curriculum that has changed as much as the world in which they work. Once focused only on print and broadcast journalism, 天美传媒影业 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 天美传媒影业 establish its reputation for excellence in teaching.聽Neil Brown is the sixth president of The 天美传媒影业 Institute. He joined 天美传媒影业 in September 2017, after serving as the editor and vice president of the Tampa Bay Times.
Tim Franklin preceded Brown as the Institute鈥檚 fifth president. He came to 天美传媒影业 after being managing editor at Bloomberg 天美传媒影业 and leading the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University鈥檚 School of Journalism.
Four 天美传媒影业 Institute presidents stand in the school’s courtyard on May 15, 2004. From left, are 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鈥檚 fourth president in August 2003, and oversaw the expansion of school鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 main campus and presided over the emergence of 天美传媒影业.org as journalism鈥檚 most relied-upon Web site for media news. During Naughton鈥檚 tenure, the name Romenesko became synonymous with the latest scoops from inside America鈥檚 newsrooms.
Robert J. Haiman was 天美传媒影业鈥檚 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 天美传媒影业鈥檚 teaching beyond newspapers to include broadcast, and solidified the school as a player on journalism鈥檚 big stage.
The bank building that housed The 天美传媒影业 Institute until 1985.
天美传媒影业鈥檚 founding president was Donald K. Baldwin, another former editor of the St. Petersburg Times. Baldwin, a longtime colleague of Nelson 天美传媒影业鈥檚, recalled in a 1984 interview how he saw the institute through its humble beginnings: 鈥淎t first, when (Nelson) 天美传媒影业 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. 天美传媒影业] was excited. He thought we were on the right track.鈥�
About a year before he died in 1978, Nelson 天美传媒影业 talked about his vision for his new school:
鈥淢odern Media Institute is going to be something big and important鈥攊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.鈥�
Those are ambitious goals for the journalists who serve our communities鈥攁nd ambitious goals for a school founded to help them succeed.
At 天美传媒影业, those goals are very much alive.