Geneva Overholser
EDUCATION
1978 Certificat Pratique de Langue Française, Université de Paris
1971 M.S., Journalism, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University
1970 A.B., History, Wellesley College
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2014 to 2017 Senior Fellow and Consultant, Program for Informed Participation, Democracy Fund
2014 to 2016 Senior Fellow, Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, USC Annenberg
2008-2013 University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, professor and director of the School of Journalism
2000-2008 Missouri School of Journalism, Washington bureau, endowed chair, tenured full professor, Journalism Studies faculty
1998-2001 Syndicated columnist, Washington Post Writers Group. Twice-weekly column appearing in newspapers throughout the country and abroad
1995-1998 Ombudsman, The Washington Post
1988-1995 Editor, The Des Moines Register
1986-1988 Editorial board member, The New York Times
1983-1986 Deputy editorial-page editor, The Des Moines Register
1981-1983 Editorial writer, The Des Moines Register
1974-1979 Freelance writer in Kinshasa, Zaire, and Paris
1971-1974 Reporter (legislature, city hall, general assignment), Colorado Springs Sun
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
2016-2021 Board member, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Foundation
2016-2021 Board member, Northwestern University in Qatar
2014-2021 Board member, Rita Allen Foundation
2007-2016 Board member, Academy of American Poets
2014-2016 Board member, Women’s Media Center
2013-2016 Advisory board member, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
2007-2010 Advisory board member, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
2007-2013 Advisory board member, Women’s Media Center
1990-2013 Board member, Knight fellowships, Stanford University
2004-2010 Member, Journalism Advisory Committee, Knight Foundation
2007-2010 Board member, Alicia Patterson Foundation
2006–2010 Board member, Center for Public Integrity
2003-2008 Board member, Fund for Independence in Journalism
2003-2005 Co-editor and co-director, Press in Democracy commission, Annenberg
2000-2004 Board member and officer, National Press Foundation
2001-2003 Member, endowment advisory board, Investigative Reporters and Editors
1997-2003 Board member, Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships
1995-2001 Trustee, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1991-2000 Advisory board member, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies
1990-1995 Committee chair, board member and officer, American Society of Newspaper Editors
1989-1997 Board member, The Pulitzer Prize, final year as chair
1986-1995 Member, Council on Foreign Relations
1985-1986 Nieman Fellow, Harvard University
1979-1980 Congressional Fellow, American Political Science Association
PUBLICATIONS
1998-present Occasional articles in Nieman Reports, Media Studies Journal, IPI Global Journalist, etc. Opinion pieces in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and other publications
2002-2004 Weekly blog, “Journalism Junction,” Poynter Institute Website
2000-2002 Regular CJR columns, Columbia Journalism Review
Refereed Journal
“Good Business, Journalism: An Industry Perspective,” Newspaper Research Journal, 2004.
Book Co-Edited
2005 “The Press,” Geneva Overholser and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, eds., Oxford University Press
Book Chapters
2011 Page One: Inside the New York Times and the Future of Journalism (Participant Media Guide) David Folkenflik, ed., Participant Media
2008 The Edge of Change:Women in the Twenty-First-Century Press, June Nicholson, ed., University of Illinois Press
2007 “What Good Is Journalism? How Reporters and Editors Are Saving America’s Way of Life, George Kennedy and Daryl Moen, ed., University of Missouri Press
2007 “The Yellow Journalism,” foreword by Geneva Overholser, Northwestern University Press
2005 “Restoring Trust in American Business,” Jay W. Lorsch, Leslie Berlowitz, and Andy Zelleke, eds., MIT
2004 “Leaving Readers Behind: The Age of Corporate Newspapering,” Gene Roberts, Thomas Kunkel, Charles S. Layton, eds., University of Arkansas Press
2003 “Media and the War on Terrorism,” Marvin Kalb and Stephen Hess eds., Brookings
2003 “Thinking Clearly: Cases in Journalistic Decision-making; Tom Rosenstiel and Amy S. Mitchell, Columbia
Other
2010 “Science and the Media,” co-editor with Don Kennedy, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2010 http://annenberg.usc.edu/News%20and%20Events/News/101025OverholserScience.aspx
2010 Applying the “Manifesto for Change” to Journalism Education
2008 Update of “On Behalf of Journalism: A Manifesto for Change”
2006 “On Behalf of Journalism: A Manifesto for Change,” 2006. Online at http://mopress.com/_lib/files/Overholser_Manifestor_for_Change.pdf
AWARDS
2013 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication: Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education
2012 40 women who changed the media business in the past 40 years: Columbia Journalism Review
2002 National Press Club First Amendment Fellow
2002 Anvil of Freedom Award
2001 Inducted into American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1997 Doctor of Literature, St. Andrews Presbyterian College
1996 Alumnae Achievement Award, Northwestern University
1994 Alumnae Achievement Award, Wellesley College
1993 Editor of the Year, National Press Foundation
1992 Fellow of the Society award for extraordinary contribution to the profession, Society of Professional Journalists
1992 Best in the Business Award, “Best Newspaper Editor,” Washington Journalism Review
1991 Editor of the Year, Gannett (Also 1994)
1990 Ladies Home Journal, America’s Fifty Most Powerful Women
1990 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service to The Des Moines Register
1990 Feminist Majority Foundation, Feminist of the Year Award
1989 Doctor of Humane Letters, Grinnell College
SPEECHES, PANELS, WORKSHOPS
Between 1991 and 2012, delivered 13 named journalism lectures at colleges and universities ranging from Stanford to Notre Dame to the University of North Carolina.
Organized and moderated dozens of panels and workshops, including four symposia sponsored by the University of Missouri’s Hurley Chair, all at the National Press Club in Washington. Delivered keynote speeches at conferences of National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Association of Op-Ed Editors, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Council on Foundations, Association for Women Journalists. Served as panelist or speaker at ASNE, NAA and state press associations, media-law conferences, National Writers Workshops, multiple AEJMC panels and other organizations
BROADCAST APPEARANCES
From 1990 to present: Occasional appearances on CNN, PBS News Hour, Frontline, Nightline, C-SPAN, Fox News, National Public Radio (including commentaries), etc. Reported segments on presidential election coverage and White House scandal coverage for PBS Media Matters.