Joining Likes of Walter Cronkite, Holden to Receive Sass

Madison resident Rich Holden didn't get into the business of teaching young and eager students the finer details about journalism to win awards. In fact, the realization that teaching might be part of his career at some point didn't hit him until he served as a lecturer-in-residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"I thought, No. 1, I'd do it for fun," Holden said. "No. 2, I'd do it for a little bit of money I could set aside for vacations. I lived off the salary, and here is a little pot I could put away. And I went out there and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed working with the students, all of whom were perfectly fluent in English."

Now, 31 years after he returned to the United States, Holden's name will stand next to the likes of Walter Cronkite in appreciation of what he has done for aspiring journalists.

Holden, the executive director of the Dow Jones News Fund, and husband of Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden, will receive the 2010 Gerald Sass Award for Distinguished Service to Journalism and Mass Communication. The award is presented by the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC). Former honorees include Cronkite, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and Randolph A. Hearst.

Holden's Dow Jones News Fund is a nonprofit organization supported by the Dow Jones Foundation, Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and other media companies. It's Web site says its "emphasis is on education for students and educators as part of our mission to promote careers in  journalism." It does that largely through operating several high school and college-level grant programs

Holden's first go around with educating eager minds in Hong Kong came after he moved there to become a founding member of The Asian Wall Street Journal in 1976.

"When I told everybody in New York I was going to Hong Kong, the immediate reaction was "why on Earth would you give up your career and go off to nowhere for who knows how long?," he said. "It's the same thing I tell the kids, when you're starting your career, if something comes up that sounds interesting, don't ever look back 20 years later and say 'I wonder what would have happened if I had done that.' If it sounds like something that might be fun, you go ahead and do it."

It wasn't the only important guiding force toward Holden's ultimate role as executive director of the Fund. The people he worked with in Hong Kong had a direct impact on his appointment, as well as the journalism world as a whole.

The editor and publisher of The Asian Journal was Peter Kann, who would go on to be chairman of the board at Dow Jones. The managing editor in Hong Kong was Norm Pearlstine, who would hold the same position at The Wall Street Journal, become editor in chief at Time Inc., and most recently came out of retirement to take a position as chief content officer with Bloomberg.

"When the opening at the Newspaper Fund came up, Mr. Kann, who was then the CEO and the chairman, remembered that I always enjoyed teaching, that I was involved at the Chinese University," Holden said." He called and said "hey, I think this is something you might interested in," and I said, "sounds terrific." That was October of 1992, and I never looked back since."

Since he's been there, Holden estimates the Fund has provided internships for 2,000 college students, as well as high school workshops for about 8,000.

"It's an extremely, satisfying, rewarding position," Holden said.

He is opposed to the growing trend of unpaid internships, which not only eliminates monetary compensation, but also requires participants to pay their college institutions for the credits they are earning. Holden believes the practice helps widen the gap between the haves and have-nots by making such internships accessible only to well-to-do students.

The man who has helped encourage bright students to take careers in journalism is hopeful that the downward trend in news profitability is beginning to turn around.

"I do think, by all indications, the climate is improving," Holden said. "It is getting better. News organization earnings are going up. Let's hope that in the future that things are coming."

Holden has worked with so many individuals who he remembers fondly, both for their personalities and what they've gone on to do after working with the Fund, that it's hard for him to single a few out. He's even joined Facebook solely so his students, who were clamoring for him to do so, can keep in touch.

"We've had our share of famous alumni, but the main thing is that people came through our program as interns who are now in supervisor positions who remember the training that they got and the reception they got from what we did," he said. "They are the ones coming back to us saying, 'we have an opening, can we participate in the program?' The people who come through the program appreciate to the extent that they want to come back to us when they are looking for interns."

One of Holden's former Fund interns, Jason Bartolone, is currently a copy editor and Page 1A designer at the Bradenton Herald in Bradenton, Fla. Bartolone, who was an intern for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review through the Fund in 2003, says Holden's work makes a difference.

"I'm just one of the countless number of young journalists who were helped by Mr. Holden as they got started in the business," Bartolone said. "Long after my internship, he was always happy to check in with me and see how my career was unfolding."

Holden grew up in Affton, Mo.,  and graduated from the University of Missouri's prestigious journalism program with a journalism degree in the fall of 1971. He attended graduate school through Air Force ROTC for two years and received his Masters of Arts. Holden served in the Air Force for 19 years, with three months of active duty in Scott Air Force Base near Belleville, Ill., and in the reserves otherwise. He served as Scott's information officer while there.

He has previously received the Gold Key Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Pioneer Award from the National Scholastic Press Association. In 1999, he was named Innovator of the Year by the University of Nebraska's College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

His most recent honor will come at ASJMC's annual dinner in Denver on Aug. 6. He says it's not in his nature, nor in the Fund's itself, to push into the spotlight.

"I'm just picturing myself giving a 20 minute speech on who knows what," Holden said.

It's not lost on him that it will present a reversal of how his marriage to the mayor–who he met while she also worked at Dow Jones–usually works.

"This is a rare occurrence," Holden said. "This is the first time in 23 years that I've been up here speaking and that she's been out there listening. It's funny, usually we get the other way around."

It's his work behind the scenes for 18 years, devoted to helping develop young journalists, that has garnered that recognition.