Sears’ catalog
‘Editor of the Year’ hawks old-school journalism
By Boaz Dvir
When Editor & Publisher selected him “Editor of the Year 2004,” Eddie Sears, JM 1967, heard from family, friends, coworkers, colleagues, and even folks he’d fired.
The Palm Beach Post editor just has a hold on people. He has used it to assemble one heck of a competitive team.
“Reporters and editors arrive in West Palm Beach from larger papers such as The Miami Herald and The Denver Post,” E&P noted, “and stay in Palm Beach even when offers are dangled by journalism’s household names.”
It’s a good thing Sears likes to compete. Unlike most editors, he must defend his home turf against other daily newspapers. He faces threats from the south, west and north. Only the Atlantic Ocean keeps his eastern front quiet (hurricanes notwithstanding).
Eddie and Goliath: The Palm Beach Post's main competitor, the Fort Lauderdale-based Sun-Sentinel, has a larger overal circulation.
Scripps Newspapers, which owns the Vero Beach Press Journal and other area publications, chases readers and advertisers in northern Palm Beach County. And the Fort Lauderdale-based Sun-Sentinel, which dominates South County (Boca Raton and Delray Beach), launched a campaign earlier this year into the central and northwestern parts.
“We began efforts to grow our Palm Beach County edition in response to demand from readers and advertisers,” said Kevin Courtney, Sun-Sentinel Company communications manager. “Some told us they wanted another ‘voice.’ Others told us they wanted another ‘choice.’ The county’s population growth patterns also presented a significant opportunity.”
Sears has responded by expanding his newsroom and solidifying his trademark old-school journalism – cultivating sources, breaking news and providing perspective.
Jan Tuckwood
“Eddie is an instinctive journalist,” said Associate Editor Jan Tuckwood, JM 1978. “We do meat-and-potatoes journalism, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring.”
Having competition pushes Sears’s team on a daily basis.
“They [the other papers] don’t know this area like we do,” he said.
To make sure readers know that, Sears has directed his staff to cover the county’s top two stories – the 2000 presidential election recount and Scripps Research Institute’s planned arrival – with concentrated consistency.
Recounting the recount
Get ready, America: “It can happen again – and right here,” Sears said. And this time, it could be uglier. “Recount isn’t possible on the new machines.”
COUNT ON HIM: Palm Beach Post Editor Eddie Sears has directed his staff to own two stories with far-reaching implications: the presidential elections and Scripps Research Institute.
His team never stopped reporting the election recount story. As the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board wrestled with countless chads, Sears created a beat.
Even when the bigger news outlets zero in again on Palm Beach County as November nears, the Post will maintain its edge, just as it did in 2000, he said. “Papers were parachuting people here.”
The Post stayed ahead of most of them, said E&P Editor Greg Mitchell. “They had terrific coverage.”
The Scripps scripts
Sears and the government read from different scripts. Florida and Palm Beach County pledged more than $500 million to lure the La Jolla, Calif.-based biotech not-for-profit Scripps Research Institute; the Post editor pledged to shed light on all related issues, including environmental concerns, even if that meant driving out the coveted project.
“They could get pissed off and go to Orlando,” he said. “But I don’t think we’ll kill it. Anyway, it is not our problem. They can’t blame the messenger if this falls apart.”
This cheese might move. The Post recently reported the Mouse is still sniffing around: “That Central Florida did lose has spawned a number of remorseful theories …,” Staff Writer Pat Beall wrote. “And there is the sweetest, most seductive theory of all: It’s not too late. Scripps might yet see the error of its South Florida ways.”
The Palm Beach County Commission recently recommended moving the project from Mecca Farm, which Scripps chose, to a less environmentally sensitive area, the Post reported. The company prefers the original site because neighboring parcels offer greatest potential for development, helping it meet its job-creation obligation.
If Scripps departs, it would deflate more than just egos in Palm Beach County. The project is expected to serve as the catalyst for creating 44,000 jobs in coming decades and add a dimension to a business community that has placed most of its eggs in three baskets – farming, tourism and construction.
“Our economy needs it,” Sears said. “It’s a stable, clean, high-minded business.”
Strong suits
The Post’s other competitive advantages include a lucid, acid editorial page, Sears said. “It bites.”
Sure, it takes a stand. Let’s just say Michael Moore would probably give it thumbs up. And it provokes. But, with such voices as two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Don Wright, it also stimulates discussion and sheds light.
“Some of the best stories are broken on TV. Our job is to explain them,” Sears said. “We give complete perspective, every day. That’s hard to do.”
For instance, the Sunday opinion section devoted nearly three pages earlier this year to what can best be described as the Idiot’s Guide to Scripps Research Institute. A conversational Q&A, which snaked through a package of maps, graphics and thumb-nail bios, brought up such questions as, “If Scripps is messing with that kind of thing [anthrax], won’t it pose a danger to the public?”
The answer partly read, “It’s not certain what dangerous stuff Scripps will be using in Palm Beach County. For security reasons, facilities that use what are called ‘select agents’ aren’t allowed to publicize the fact. That keeps would-be terrorists from knowing about potential targets, but it also potentially keeps the public from fully understanding local threats.”
The section helped raise public awareness. “We wanted to take something that is complicated and confusing,” Sears said, “and make it so clear that even someone like me could understand it.”
Unlike many editors, Sears oversees the opinion page editor. But, to avoid micromanaging, he rarely attends editorial meetings – just as he rarely walks around the newsroom. “He lets us do our thing,” Tuckwood said.
Lynn Kalber
After he received the news from E&P, however, Sears went straight to the newsroom to give his staff full credit.
“We’re pleased he said it,” said Lynn Kalber, JM 1978, director of administration/newsroom. “But, without his leadership, we wouldn’t be who we are.”
Who they are is a talented team brought together by an old-school editor to practice textbook journalism in a highly competitive place at a fast-changing time.
“We’ve followed that paper for awhile,” E&P’s Mitchell said. “We’ve been writing a lot about that paper. That could also be a bad thing, but in this case, it was good.”
