Journalism Days Features Former Editor of Philadelphia Inquirer

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Gene Foreman

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gene Foreman, who has 41 years of experience in newspaper journalism, will be the 2013 speaker at the Roy Reed Lecture from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, in the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Roy Reed Lecture Series was created to honor Roy Reed, a renowned writer and reporter for the Arkansas Gazette and the New York Times. Reed taught journalism for 16 years at the University of Arkansas, where he stressed not only the importance of telling stories accurately but of telling them well, with special consideration for language.

Foreman retired in 1998 after 25 years managing newsroom operations at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Previously he was the managing editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial and the Arkansas Democrat. He also worked as a reporter and assignment editor at the Arkansas Gazette, a copy editor at the New York Times, and the senior editor in charge of news and copy desks at Newsday. He was president of the Associated Press Managing Editors in 1990 and was a board member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors from 1995 to 1998.

After retiring from the Inquirer, Foreman joined the Pennsylvania State University faculty, teaching news editing and journalism ethics for 17 semesters. He ended his full-time teaching career in December 2006 but continues as a visiting professor, directing a conference of distinguished writers who make presentations to the students.

 In 2009, Wiley-Blackwell published Foreman’s textbook on journalism ethics, The Ethical Journalist: Making Responsible Decisions in the Pursuit of News.