The Indiana Publisher

Page 2 September 2017 HSPA staff Steve Key, executive director and general counsel skey@hspa.com • (317) 624-4427 Pamela Lego, MAP advertising director plego@hspa.com • (812) 350-7711 Yvonne Yeadon, office manager yyeadon@hspa.com • (317) 624-4433 Shawn Goldsby, statewide advertising manager sgoldsby@hspa.com • (317) 803-4772 Ruth Witmer, communications specialist news@hspa.com • (317) 624-4430 The Indiana Publisher is published monthly by Hoosier State Press Association, 41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, (317) 803-4772. ISSN 0019-6711 USPS 058-730. Periodicals-class postage paid at Indianapolis, Ind., and at additional mailing office. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Indiana Publisher, 41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, (317) 803-4772, Fax (317) 624-4428 Website: www.hspa.com Subscriptions $25 per year. Ad rates furnished upon request. HSPA Foundation Board of Directors HSPA Foundation Officers HSPA Foundation Board of Directors HSPA Board of Directors HSPA Officers President: Chris White, The Times Media Co. Vice President/Secretary: Chuck Wells, AIM Media Indiana HSPA Board Members Greg Morris, IBJ Corp. Pete Van Baalen, Fort Wayne Newspapers Patrick Lanman, Vevay Media Group Beverly Joyce, CNHI Bill Connelly, LaGrange Publishing co. Cory Bollinger, Schurz Communications, Inc. President: Nancy Grossman, Leader Publishing Vice President: Michael J. Christman, Fort Wayne Newspapers Secretary: William "B.J." Riley, Horizon Publications Curt Jacobs, The Madison Courier Barbara King, North Vernon Plain Dealer & Sun Mark Miller, The News-Banner (Bluffton) John Rumbach, The Herald (Jasper) Bill Hackney, The News Dispatch (Michigan CIty) and The LaPorte County Herald-Argus Jim Karczewski remembered as generous, kind-hearted HSPA Calendar Sept. 21-22 Oct. 19 Dec. 2 Annual HSPA Conference, Awards Gala INAEA Idea Exchange Call Newsroom Seminar By Michelle L. Quinn (Merrillville) Post-Tribune Jim Karczewski would be the first person to bristle at the cliche that his heart was as big as his body. At 6 feet 9 inches tall, the freelance photographer whose work appeared often in the Post-Tribune rarely, if ever, blended into the scen- ery. Both a blessing and a curse, his size allowed him to capture images where others simply couldn't. Karczewski, 45, died in his sleep the night of August 14 after a long illness. A former video game pro- grammer, Karczewski switched gears and took up photography after program- ming became boring, his sis- ter, Lynda Karczewski, said. Highland Councilman Bernie Zemen, said Karczewski was one of the first photographers he ever hired when he was starting out in his own photog- raphy business. "Neither one of us had any money for lenses and other equipment at the time, so we would pool what we had to- gether and rent lenses from a place in Chicago," Zemen said. "He was just this big teddy bear of a guy, and he knew everything. I would have a problem with Photo- shop or something, and I could call Jim, and he would say 'Just do this, this and this,' and it would always be right." Karczewski, a 1990 Bish- op Noll Institute graduate, was a longtime freelancer for the Post-Tribune. "Jim was our go-to guy more often than not for Lake County pictures. We texted back and forth often about jobs and shooting," said Post- Tribune Metro Editor Joe Pu- chek. "He was a great guy. We'll miss him and his visits to the newsroom." Guy Rhodes, a freelance photographer from East Chi- cago who's done work for the Post-Tribune, USA To- day and New York Times, was out one brisk night in January 2013 to shoot the fi- nal night that the old Nine- Span Bridge in Hammond would be open to traffic. The plan was to light the bridge with a strobe "to showcase the truss work and rivets" when a "tall, ski-masked sil- houette" lumbered toward him on the dark bridge. "I should have known ex- actly who it was, because there was no mistaking Jim K," Rhodes said. Chicago Tribune Media Group Deputy Suburban Sports Editor Mike Clark said Karczewski always wanted his work to be "just right." It was who he was, Clark said. "I guess the thing about Jim that I can't emphasize enough is he cared so much about getting the right pho- to," Clark said. "There are so many freelancers who'll go to an event, shoot three or four pictures and be done, but Jim was the guy who talked to the reporter and asked them what they need- ed. There was time he and I were covering a track meet, and it was just cold and mis- erable. Again, he could've just taken a few shots and been done, but he stayed out there taking shot after shot. "You know we don't (stay in journalism) for the money, but Jim really loved it. He considered himself a photo- journalist, and his personality was as big as his body. What a shame." John Watkins, photo editor for the Times of Northwest Indiana, said he'd just seen Karczewski when they were on assignment shooting HUD Secretary Ben Carson in East Chicago recently. "I was just ribbing him about his haircut (after Karc- zewski donated his back- length hair to charity). We were competitors, but never enemies," Watkins said. "This is terribly sad." Karczewski is survived by his mother, MaryAnn Karc- zewski, of Hammond; three sisters, Chris Karczewski, of Hammond; Sandy (Jeff) Par- sons, of Valparaiso; and Lyn- da Karczewski, of Colorado; niece Ashley Parsons and nephew Jeffrey Parsons; a menagerie of cats and a big- ger crew of friends, Chris Karczewski said. He was proceeded in death by his fa- ther, who died 29 years ago. Chris Karczewski will al- ways remember her brother for his big heart and his love of working with his hands. "He was like our dad in that regard," Chris Karczewski said. "He was very generous and kind-hearted, and he was a gentleman, always chival- rous to our mom and the three of us." Lynda Karczewski called her brother "Mr. Excess" for his love of expensive equip- ment and said he was just like any little brother in a house full of big sisters. But she loved him fiercely. "You're not supposed to lose your baby freaking brother," she said. "But we were given the gift of his short life, and he's not in pain anymore." Staff report South Bend Tribune When he was a young boy in the 1950s, David C. Ray's mother would take him to visit the South Bend Tribune, where his grandfather was the business manager. During high school, Ray worked summers as a Tribune copy boy and in the ad department. Years later, he would be- come editor and publisher of the newspaper, taking over at a time when technol- ogy was transforming how news was reported and de- livered — a far cry from the days of hot-type and letter- press production. Ray, however, knew that the basic tenets of journalism and customer service needed to stay strong. "Technology changes have allowed us to reduce our costs and to do our work fast- er, and to provide informa- tion in the form of pictures and graphics that we never were able to do before," Ray said in a 2011 interview. "But while technology is com- pletely changed, it doesn't change the fundamental job of journalists — or of an ad- vertising department, for that matter." He also talked about the "essential" role that newspa- pers play in "defining a com- munity and helping it to grow." Ray, 71, of Granger, died August 10 after an illness. Ray served as The Tri- bune's editor and publisher from 2000 to 2011. He was the great-grandson of Elmer Crockett, one of the co-founders of the Tribune in 1872. Ray was the newspa- per's seventh publisher and the last who was a descen- dant of a Tribune founder. He worked at the Tribune for 21 years. "He was always fair," said his wife, Laura Ray. "He made sure he would ask the hard questions, playing dev- il's advocate, for he always wanted to ensure that we were not taking sides in issues." Todd Schurz, chief execu- tive officer of Schurz Com- munications Inc., The Tri- bune's parent company, said he had "the honor and plea- sure of working with David for over 25 years." "David's natural intelli- gence was matched only by his dedication, integrity, and sense of responsibility," Sch- urz said. "He was a genuinely kind person who cared deep- ly about his colleagues. Our company is far better because of David, and he will be greatly missed." David Crockett Ray was born in South Bend in 1946. After graduating from Red- ford High School in Detroit, Ray earned a bachelor's de- gree in American history from Harvard University and grad- uated from the Navy's Nu- clear Propulsion Training Program. He served 22 years in the U.S. Navy, including in the Navy's nuclear pro- gram, as chief engineer of the USS Bainbridge and ex- ecutive officer of the USS Arkansas. He achieved the rank of commander. After retiring from the Navy in 1990, Ray joined The Tribune as project man- ager for modernization, and later was named vice presi- dent of development and planning. He spearheaded the 1997 conversion of The Tribune to a morning news- paper after 124 years of be- ing a predominantly after- noon publication. He was project manager for con- struction of a new mailroom building, a new press build- ing and the installation of a new printing press. Ray was named The Tri- bune's vice president and general manager in 1997, then editor and publisher in 2000. The Tribune was named In- diana's Blue Ribbon daily pa- per of the year by the Hoosier State Press Association in 2006. Ray took special inter- est in the editorial pages and overseeing the paper's edito- rial board. While he was pub- lisher, HSPA twice named The Tribune's editorial page the state's best. The newspa- per under his leadership added niche products and saw a boom in its online audience. Ray also helped coordinate the construction of the build- ing on Douglas Road in Mish- awaka to serve as headquar- ters for WSBT TV and radio and Schurz Communications. After retiring from The Tribune, Ray continued to serve as a member of the board of directors of Schurz Communications. He served as president of the board of trustees of Stan- ley Clark School, and served on the boards of United Way, Project Future, Madison Hospital Foundation, the Community Foundation, Downtown South Bend and the Chamber of Commerce. Ray and Laura were mar- ried in Arlington, Va., in 1985. In addition to his wife, he is survived by four chil- dren: Patrick, David, Christo- pher and Kathleen. David Ray, former South Bend Tribune publisher, dies at 71 Remembered as fair, kind and dedicated Long-time Post-Tribune free- lance photographer dies at 45 Jim Karczewski David Ray inside his South Bend Tribune office in March 2011, shortly before he retired. Photo by Robert Frankin, South Bend Tribune. 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