Ann Marie Lipinski to run Nieman Foundation

Ann Marie Lipinski

Former Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski has been named curator of Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism, replacing Bob Giles, who’s retiring this June. Steve Myers has the details and the links at Poynter.org.

Nieman is a leading journalism education and research foundation, as well as a center for mid-career journalists looking to recharge their batteries. (Note: I am an occasional contributor to its journal, Nieman Reports.) Lipinski instantly becomes one of the most important media thinkers in Boston.

From the press release:

Lipinski brings three decades of journalism experience to her new post. Prior to joining the University of Chicago in 2008, where she is credited with major contributions to the discourse around the future of the city, arts programs in the community, and collaborations with local public schools, she served as editor of the Chicago Tribune for more than seven years. Under her stewardship, the Tribune became known as a leader in public service journalism, publishing stories with both investigative depth and literary detail, including a multiyear reporting effort that helped bring about a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois. Under her leadership, the Tribune won Pulitzers for international, explanatory, investigative, feature, and editorial writing. The paper also significantly expanded its portfolio of print and digital offerings.

Lipinski was a Nieman Fellow in 1990, so she knows her way around Harvard Square — although, if she’s like the rest of us, she’ll find it considerably less interesting than it was the last time she was here.

Bob Giles to retire from Nieman Foundation

Best wishes to Nieman Foundation curator Bob Giles, who will retire this June.

Giles arrived at the Harvard-based organization in 2000, and has overseen an impressive expansion. The Nieman Journalism Lab, in particular, has emerged as one of a handful of go-to sites tracking the transformation of journalism. Nieman Reports (to which I have contributed occasionally) remains one of the leading journalism publications, and editor Melissa Ludtke was recently honored with a Yankee Quill Award.

At an age (77) when many journalists are grousing that we never should have moved away from hot type, Giles fully understands the crisis and opportunity presented by technological change. I’m glad he’s sticking around until the end of the academic year, because he’ll have a chance to take a well-deserved victory lap.