mike cowling story

In a speech describing his experiences working at The New York Times, Professor Mike Cowling explained the downward direction the paper has been headed toward in the past years and several defenses it has built in efforts to stop it.

Cowling started by saying that The Times has "a reputation as a paper that has consistently done things, and done things well." The paper won its first Pulitzer Prize in 1918 and since then has earned a total of 90 Pulitzers, almost double the amount received by any other newspaper.

"Pulitzers mean a lot to The New York Times," Cowling said. He then went on to explain how The Times sets aside a separate budget strictly for the Pulitzer Prize, and that only the best writers are hired to write the nomination letters for the prize.

Although he made it clear that The New York Times is a very prestigious paper, Cowling also touched on some of the problems that it has been having in recent years.Cowling said that most of the problems started with the Jayson Blair scandal. Blair, a reporter for The Times, was recently caught after years of plagiarizing and fabricating articles. Blair got away with this because editors at The Times were not checking his sources.

This was a "major black eye for The New York Times," Cowling said. He also said that critics believe The Times has "lost it's edge" and that lately it has become so concerned with restoring it's image that the paper's stories are beginning to suffer.

The New York Times is working on these problems. According to Cowling, committees at The Times have hired a "Public Editor" who serves as an "in-house critic of the publication." These committees also make sure credit is given to everyone who was involved in the story, whether they be the photographer, reporter or the editor. A three-tier system of sourcing was also installed to be sure all information is complete and accurate. Cowling said The Times is being "overly cautious" but believes it is for good reason.

Cowling became a member of the journalism faculty at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 1994. Over the past 11 years, Cowling has taught courses such as media ethics, editing, feature writing and reporting. Since 1997, he has spent his summers working as a copy editor on the national or foreign desk for The New York Times. Cowling currently edits the paper's web edition five nights a week.

He earned his bachelor's degree in 1975 at Eastern Illinois University, majoring in journalism and history. In 2004, Cowling was inducted into Eastern's Journalism Alumni Hall of Fame for the contributions he has made to the university's journalism program. He received his master's in journalism at the University of Illinois.

Cowling is the executive secretary of the Northeastern Wisconsin Scholastic Press Association. In 2001, with help from other board members, Cowling established a $500 scholarship that is awarded each year to a high school student who is looking for a career in journalism. He has also sponsored editing and ethics workshops throughout the nation.