Peter Bhatia, 69
Editor and Vice President, Detroit Free Press and Michigan and Ohio regional editor, USA TODAY Network First job in news:
Publishing a neighborhood newspaper in my hometown of Pullman, Washington, and likely broke copyright laws. My dad ran it off on a ditto master at his office. Happily, no copies survive. My first paying job was as a summer intern at The Spokesmanreview, Spokane, Washington, in the summer of 1974. What are some of the most important lessons you have learned while working in news?
Journalism is fun. Enjoy every minute you are making it happen. Listening is more important than talking.
Also, do what you say you’re going to do. Make sure expectations are clear, then let people do their jobs. Journalism, journalism, then journalism. The rest will follow. When you reflect on your career to date, what brings you the greatest sense of accomplishment?
Helping so many amazing journalists achieve their potential. I’ve worked in all four time zones and eight different news organizations, and the people are what makes journalism so wonderful. What are your predictions for where news publishing/news media is heading?
If I could predict the future, I’d do a lot better every year in the March Madness pool. But even with the current economic uncertainties, I am more encouraged about the future than I have been in recent years. It’s important to remember that, three decades into digital journalism, we are still in a transition. There is a future if we embrace all the digital tools, stay true to journalism, do a much better job listening to our communities and embrace our multicultural society. Digital subscriptions are a positive step. Yes, print will decline, and we’ll see more and more cutbacks in print days. But journalism has a great future in the digital age, and I believe we can find it.