Geneva Overholser
Journalism, democracy, memory, witness

I’ve spent my working life inside journalism — reporting, editing, teaching, and thinking publicly about the press’s obligations in a democratic society. Over the years, my work has taken many forms: government reporting, editorial and academic leadership, as well as projects rooted in personal experience.

I began as a city hall and statehouse reporter at the Colorado Springs SUN and went on to work as an overseas freelancer, then editorial writer, editor, ombudsman and columnist. I was editor of the Des Moines Register, and worked at The New York Times and The Washington Post. I also served as director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism and in the Missouri School of Journalism’s Washington bureau.

Some of the work I’m proudest of concerns journalism’s highest responsibilities — including a series on  sexual assault that earned the Des Moines Register the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Other work has been more personal: writing about my years living in Africa, reflecting on letters my mother wrote across decades, and exploring how private lives intersect with public history.

This site brings those strands together. You’ll find writing about journalism and democracy, speeches I’ve given over the years, and longer series that explore memory, family and place. While the subjects vary, I like to believe that attention, responsibility, and truth-telling thread through all.

On a more personal note, I’m  a delighted  grandmother of four, a happy-to-be New Yorker  and thankful  still to be exploring the world with my sweetheart.

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