Rich Gillette

Managing Editor, Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio

First job in news:

I was a news writer for the Greenville Daily Advocate, where I cut my teeth on covering high school sports and news in small rural towns.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned while working in news?

Be curious about everything and be willing to question sources, business leaders and politicians on anything they say. Journalists get the best access. Take advantage of it. Empathy goes a long way for reporters in their reporting and editors when managing their staff. Be willing to roll with change and new technology. When I entered the newsroom, we were still cutting and pasting up stories and photos to publish a newspaper. I led the first efforts to computer paginate that small town newspaper and have been willing to change with every technology change in my 30-year journalism career.

When you reflect on your career to date, what brings you the greatest sense of accomplishment?

I find the greatest sense of accomplishment is when editors or reporters who report to me go on to larger newspapers or other careers and thank me later for something I taught them or what they learned from their experience working with me. It’s also a sense of accomplishment when people tell you they don’t read newspapers anymore but will cite a story that was written by your staff.

What are your predictions for where news publishing/news media is heading?

Content and good journalism will always be important. We and future generations will need to continue to figure out to deliver it to people where they are.