Bob Whitcomb retires from Providence Journal
After 43 years in journalism -- 32 of them at The Providence Journal -- Bob Whitcomb retired today as vice president and editor of the editorial pages. He will be missed here at 75 Fountain Street -- but we will be seeing him in many other places (and on the op-ed pages) as he continues with his writing. And also at Salve Regina Univerity's Pell Center, where he will be an adjunct fellow. He already is a governor with The Pell Center's Story in the Public Square program.
I have known Bob since 1981, when I arrived at the projo and he was soon to depart for Paris, where he became an
editor for the International Herald Tribune. Five years later, he came back. Best of luck, Bob! Ed Achorn is replacing Bob, as
Bob Whitcomb in his fourth-floor office, May 31, 2013.
Here is the story about Bob that my colleague Tom Mooney wrote for last Sunday's paper:
Media | Editorial page editor to retire but will write column
TOM MOONEY
Publication Date: May 26, 2013
Page: MAIN_06
Section: News
Zone: MAIN
Edition: 1
PROVIDENCE - Robert B. Whitcomb, the erudite and good-humored editorial
pages editor for The Providence Journal for the last 21 years and one of
the newspaper's vice presidents, is retiring at the end of this month.
Whitcomb,
65, said he is stepping down now to "try other things." One of them
will be as a regular guest contributor on the editorial pages that he
has overseen - writing a column every other week on "a wide range of
topics representing my existential angst."
Whitcomb, who worked
for 32 years at The Journal, has been a vice president at the newspaper
since 1997 and in charge of its editorial pages since 1992.
"Bob
Whitcomb has had a stellar 43-year career in journalism," said Howard G.
Sutton, publisher, president and chief executive officer of The
Providence Journal Co. "For the last 21 years he has produced some of
the finest editorial pages in the country for The Providence Journal.
"He
leaves behind a sterling record of service to the newspaper and to
Southern New England, as an advocate for better government, a fan of
alternative energy, a strong supporter for economic development and a
skeptic of big business."
Whitcomb first joined The Journal in
1976 after writing and editing stints at the Boston Herald Traveler, the
Wilmington (Del.) News Journal and The Wall Street Journal, in New
York. He left The Providence Journal at the end of 1982 to become an
editor for the International Herald Tribune, based in Paris, and
returned to The Journal in 1987, serving as acting Sunday managing
editor before moving upstairs in 1989 to begin writing editorials.
Whitcomb championed having a wide range of voices on the editorial and opinion pages.
"I'm not one who believes a paper like this should have just local
news," he said in a recent interview. "It should give you a view of the
world. And not just from where you are sitting."
Whitcomb has had
a ringside seat to revolutionary changes in the media in recent years
as more people turn to news online. Besides the reduction of reporters
gathering the news and asking questions, "the most distressing thing to
me," Whitcomb said, has been "the triumph of process over content which
permeates most of the media now," the emphasis of story display over
proper writing and editing.
"I think in the next five years, we
will kind of reinvent ourselves…. In the interim I worry about quality
journalism. You can see the effect, the decline in civic discourse in
civil society."
But reality being what it is, Whitcomb said, "it's like complaining that rocks are hard."
Whitcomb,
a 1970 Dartmouth College graduate, co-authored a book in 2008 about the
various interests surrounding the Cape Cod wind farm project. He says
he has a couple of other writing projects in mind, including perhaps
another book, historical in nature.
He also plans to help a friend who is making a documentary about the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA.
Whitcomb and his wife, Nancy, live in Providence and have two adult daughters.
"I
have a very strong sense of clocks, of running out of time," Whitcomb
said. "A lot of people in my family have died pretty young, so I think
about that and think about having enough time to try other things. I
will miss some of the absurdities of this business, some of the humor,
the craziness, the unpredictability…. But like everyone in the business,
five minutes after I leave, everyone will forget that I was here. So
there is a wonderful transient nature to this business."
I have known Bob since 1981, when I arrived at the projo and he was soon to depart for Paris, where he became an
editor for the International Herald Tribune. Five years later, he came back. Best of luck, Bob! Ed Achorn is replacing Bob, as
Bob Whitcomb in his fourth-floor office, May 31, 2013.
Here is the story about Bob that my colleague Tom Mooney wrote for last Sunday's paper:
Media | Editorial page editor to retire but will write column
TOM MOONEY
Publication Date: May 26, 2013
Page: MAIN_06
Section: News
Zone: MAIN
Edition: 1
PROVIDENCE - Robert B. Whitcomb, the erudite and good-humored editorial
pages editor for The Providence Journal for the last 21 years and one of
the newspaper's vice presidents, is retiring at the end of this month.
Whitcomb,
65, said he is stepping down now to "try other things." One of them
will be as a regular guest contributor on the editorial pages that he
has overseen - writing a column every other week on "a wide range of
topics representing my existential angst."
Whitcomb, who worked
for 32 years at The Journal, has been a vice president at the newspaper
since 1997 and in charge of its editorial pages since 1992.
"Bob
Whitcomb has had a stellar 43-year career in journalism," said Howard G.
Sutton, publisher, president and chief executive officer of The
Providence Journal Co. "For the last 21 years he has produced some of
the finest editorial pages in the country for The Providence Journal.
"He
leaves behind a sterling record of service to the newspaper and to
Southern New England, as an advocate for better government, a fan of
alternative energy, a strong supporter for economic development and a
skeptic of big business."
Whitcomb first joined The Journal in
1976 after writing and editing stints at the Boston Herald Traveler, the
Wilmington (Del.) News Journal and The Wall Street Journal, in New
York. He left The Providence Journal at the end of 1982 to become an
editor for the International Herald Tribune, based in Paris, and
returned to The Journal in 1987, serving as acting Sunday managing
editor before moving upstairs in 1989 to begin writing editorials.
Whitcomb championed having a wide range of voices on the editorial and opinion pages.
"I'm not one who believes a paper like this should have just local
news," he said in a recent interview. "It should give you a view of the
world. And not just from where you are sitting."
Whitcomb has had
a ringside seat to revolutionary changes in the media in recent years
as more people turn to news online. Besides the reduction of reporters
gathering the news and asking questions, "the most distressing thing to
me," Whitcomb said, has been "the triumph of process over content which
permeates most of the media now," the emphasis of story display over
proper writing and editing.
"I think in the next five years, we
will kind of reinvent ourselves…. In the interim I worry about quality
journalism. You can see the effect, the decline in civic discourse in
civil society."
But reality being what it is, Whitcomb said, "it's like complaining that rocks are hard."
Whitcomb,
a 1970 Dartmouth College graduate, co-authored a book in 2008 about the
various interests surrounding the Cape Cod wind farm project. He says
he has a couple of other writing projects in mind, including perhaps
another book, historical in nature.
He also plans to help a friend who is making a documentary about the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA.
Whitcomb and his wife, Nancy, live in Providence and have two adult daughters.
"I
have a very strong sense of clocks, of running out of time," Whitcomb
said. "A lot of people in my family have died pretty young, so I think
about that and think about having enough time to try other things. I
will miss some of the absurdities of this business, some of the humor,
the craziness, the unpredictability…. But like everyone in the business,
five minutes after I leave, everyone will forget that I was here. So
there is a wonderful transient nature to this business."
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