A Lasting Legacy

Allen H. Neuharth, one of the journalism industry’s most influential and controversial figures, attained many different names for himself throughout his more than half-century career. A former Gannett chairman, founder of USA TODAY and creator of the Freedom Forum, Neuharth died April 19, leaving a lasting legacy in the field of journalism; a legacy that was first ignited in the late 1940s at the University of South Dakota.

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‘He remembered his roots’

A 1950 graduate of USD, Neuharth began his journalism studies after returning from a World War II tour overseas. Originally interested in radio, the South Dakota native was influenced by then-Volante Editor-in-Chief Marilyn Haggerty to consider a career in the newspaper business, telling him “he didn’t have the stuff for radio.”

“I kept telling Al, ‘No, you don’t want to go into radio, you want to go into newspaper work,’ and talked him into being on The Volante staff,” Haggerty said. During this time, Neuharth served as Haggerty’s managing editor, while also working as a reporter.

Upon graduation, Neuharth took a job as a reporter for the Associated Press, but later quit in order to launch SoDak Sports, a short-lived weekly sports publication, with a partner.

Over the next 20-30 years, Neuharth worked his way up the job chain to become the media titan he is now known as. Throughout his career, the newspaperman launched USA TODAY, one of the nation’s most recognizable newspapers and established The Freedom Forum, a foundation that promotes “free speech, free press and free spirit.”

Freedom Forum President at the Al Neuharth Media Center and close friend Jack Marsh, who has worked closely with Neuharth for the past 15 years, described Neuharth as his greatest professional mentor and said he had a great influence on USD.

“He recognized the importance of remaining connected to your roots,” Marsh said. “He deeply appreciated the people of this state, the experiences he had here, the education he received here and he wanted to be sure the students at USD and the people of South Dakota understood his appreciation.”

As the Freedom Forum chairman from its founding date in 1991 until his death, Neuharth created the Al Neuharth Excellence in Journalism Scholarship in 1988, a yearly honorary and monetary award given to incoming USD students who exemplify a passion to pursue a newspaper career in the industry he so heavily influenced.

Jessica Kokesh, a former Neuharth scholar who currently works for the Kearney Hub, said the hearing of Neuharth’s passing took her by surprise, as whenever she saw him he looked to be in good health.

“I enjoyed being a Neuharth scholar,” Kokesh said, who received the award in 2007. “It was sometimes very demanding, but it taught me the value of hard work, and helped me to work toward my career aspirations.”

Kokesh said Neuharth’s legacy at USD is very evident, and will remain to be a lasting one.

“The Volante has been a really big part of his lasting legacy,” Kokesh said. “The fact that he put the money into the program and sought out students who possessed the drive will definitely to continue the legacy he started.”

Having a similar high regard for the journalism industry, 2013 scholarship recipient Michael Geheren is eager to begin his college journalism career at USD this fall.

“I owe so much to Al for the fact that he is helping to fund my education, and the opportunity is wonderful,” Geheren said, whose favorite aspect of journalism is finding stories people need to know about. “Al’s ideas and what he started in South Dakota is simply awe-inspiring.”

Geheren, who is also a Free Spirit scholar— a program sponsored by The Freedom Forum that highlights high school students, one from each state, who showcase a strong interest in pursuing an interest in journalism— believes Neuharth had a genuine concern for young, aspiring journalists.

“Applying for the Al Neuharth Excellence in Journalism Scholarship was one of the hardest things I’ve done,” Geheren said. “But (Neuharth’s journalism programs) show he has so much faith in the younger generations of journalists.”

In 1989, the Freedom Forum established the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media, a yearly presentation held during Dakota Days that honors a media pioneer and their contributions to the industry. Expanding its efforts to provide another means for ambitious journalism students to broaden their media experience, the Freedom Forum organized an annual student question and answer session with the chosen award recipient as part of the main events during the whole spectacle.

Being recognized as an “accomplished, respected broadcast journalist,” Katie Couric was presented with the media award in 2009.
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“Al Neuharth was a visionary innovator who helped fundamentally change the news business while always remaining dedicated to helping others,” Couric said via spokesperson. “I’m honored and grateful to have known him and am very proud to have received the Neuharth award from him in South Dakota in 2009.”

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A demand for excellence

Further exerting efforts to benefit the university he received his degree from, Neuharth and the Freedom Forum offered a lead donation in renovating USD’s armory building, transforming it into a state-of-the-art journalism building housing the campus’ student news organizations along with S.D. Public Broadcasting, while also serving as another location of the Freedom Forum’s offices.

Reflecting on the impact Neuharth had on USD, University president James Abbott said Neuharth was very supportive of the students, and said Neuharth even took interest in making sure he felt welcome and supported as USD president by being one of the first to phone him and congratulate him on the newly acquired position.

“Al was one of those alums who not only made sure we would be assisted financially, but more importantly, he took the time to be in Vermillion, at USD, visiting students and talking to them,” Abbott said, who has served as USD president for 16 years. “He really took an interest in the school and people.”

Dedicated in 2003, 2013 marked the 10-year anniversary of the $5 million renovated armory, which is known as the Al Neuharth Media Center.

“When (the Freedom Forum) proposed the idea of naming this building after him, he said he had no interest in a building named for him if it was just bricks,” Marsh recalled, who has an office in the Freedom Forum area of the Neuharth building. “He said he would not agree to this unless he was assured the programs going on here were of substance.”

A reflection of the journalism “substance” Neuharth strived to incorporate into the program, USD’s student media has been highly recognized, receiving awards at the national level.

According to Marsh, the Al Neuharth Media Center is the only building in the world to be named after Neuharth, and he said the media innovator was proud there was a building named after him at his alma mater.

“Al Neuharth’s legacy is secure at USD and South Dakota and within our profession,” Marsh said. “He demanded excellence, he was a bold thinker, he took calculated risks, he admitted his mistakes and learned from them and he always reminded us to have fun.”

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A man of principle

Through The Freedom Forum and of his own agenda, Neuharth also worked to bring diversity and fairness to the journalism industry by hosting a variety of events at USD that embodied these ideas.

Among these events was the American Indian Journalism Institute (AIJI), which from 2001 until its recent closing in 2013, brought together Native American journalism students to complete a number of journalism courses and workshops for three weeks during the summer months.

Aaron Saunders, a 2012 AIJI program participant, remembers first meeting Neuharth in passing inside the Al Neuharth Media Center, an experience he said he will never forget.

“I was walking with another AIJI into the Al Neuharth Media Center, and all of a sudden there was Al,” Saunders said. “We were both kind of like ‘Is this Al, is that him?’ And there he was with his red and white shoes.”

Currently working as a sports reporter for the Mitchell Republic, the Washington, D.C. resident said AIJI played a large role in his decision to come to South Dakota.

“He gave me the opportunity to get out here, get a job,” said Saunders. “He gave (young journalists) an opportunity to spread our wings and grow, especially for minority journalists.”

Marsh said Neuharth was many things to many people, and that his death was very sad to all those who knew him.

“He has several legacies, some of them being his support of diversity and his advocacy for fairness,” said Marsh. “Neuharth lived his principles.”

Reflecting on Neuharth’s career and his passion for the industry, Marsh said Neuharth was eager to see how the advancement of journalism would play into the future of news, and had a strong belief in future journalists.

“Al Neuharth was optimistic about the future of the news and information business,” Marsh said proudly. “He would say be versatile, be innovative, be adaptable and never abandon your core principles.”