SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
Former Detroit Free Press executive editor winner expands journalism school’s area of emphasis
The Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies has hired Caesar Andrews, whose editorial leadership at daily newspapers spans 30 years, as the Paul A. Leonard Distinguished Visiting Chair for Ethics and Writing in Journalism. Andrews will teach undergraduate courses in media ethics and multimedia reporting during spring semester.
“The relentless pressure for profit and new ideas has increased the ethical challenges for reporters, editors and publishers,” said Rosemary McCarthy, Reynolds School academic chair. “In initiating the signing of an ethics pledge in 2008, our students have demonstrated a desire to understand and apply ethical practices in all forms of journalism. Caesar brings extensive experience to the position to link theory with practical application.”
Andrews was executive editor of the Detroit Free Press when the paper published an investigative series that exposed illegal activity and sexual indiscretions in the mayor’s office. The subsequent scandal forced the resignation of Kwame Kilpatrick, one of the city’s most popular mayors. Kilpatrick later was jailed for perjury and obstruction-of-justice convictions.
The Detroit Free Press staff was awarded the Pulitzer Prize last year for best local reporting. Andrews retired in 2009.
“The political and legal scandals in the Kilpatrick story are only a fraction of the issues involved in investigative journalism,” said Jerry Ceppos, Reynolds School dean. “As executive editor of the team that researched and reported the story, Caesar confronted ethical issues daily and at times hourly. His decisions have withstood industry scrutiny and received journalism’s highest honor.”
Andrews brings experience in academia to the Reynolds School.
He has served on the board of the national Student Press Law Center, Council for Higher Education Accreditation, and on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
Andrews served last semester as the Reynolds Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University in Virginia.
“There is a role to be defined for us as journalists and others who publish content. If there is going to be a distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ it is the ethical barrier,” Andrews said.
“More enduring will be the foundation of trust and credibility that we must earn in the market for information. Journalists must get it right or die,” he said.
The Reynolds School of Journalism is Nevada’s only accredited journalism school.
