New England Newspapers, Inc.

Martin Langeveld retired from his position as publisher of New England Newspapers, Inc. (NENI) in 2008 – after devoting 30 years to making extraordinary contributions to both the newspaper industry and the communities in which he worked and lived.  Martin’s impact on journalism didn’t stop when he retired – he began analyzing and reporting on the industry for the Nieman Journalism Lab in his blog, News After Newspapers. In 2016 he returned to newspapers when a group of local investors asked him to guide them in returning the NENI newspapers to local ownership, eventually persuading him to resume the publisher’s role that he left nearly 20 years before – he agreed to do so until a new publisher was hired. In addition to his intellect and capacity to solve complex business problems, Martin is also known to have that rare quality to transcend the business disciplines to preserve, protect and promote the core mission of high-quality local media publishers.

Telegram & Gazette

Albert B. Southwick is a treasure, a man of letters who thinks and cares deeply, whose editorials and bylined perspectives have appeared in the editorial pages of the Telegram & Gazette over a span of more than 60 years, and whose work has also appeared in publications ranging from editorials in The Saturday Evening Post to “Topics of the Times” in The New York Times. He has also published 14 books and co-authored two opera librettos. His first story appeared in the Worcester Telegram in the summer of 1941, and his newspaper career might have blossomed then, but Pearl Harbor would change everything. After four years of service in the Navy during World War II, he earned his master’s degree and worked briefly as a reporter for the Providence Journal. He returned to the Worcester Telegram in 1952 as an editorial writer eventually becoming the chief editorial writer. He worked in that role until his retirement in 1986. But “retirement” did not mean an end to writing – at age 96, he still writes a weekly column for the newspaper.

The Record-Journal

Eliot White is the definition of what a family-owned newspaper company leader should be. As the president and publisher of The Record-Journal Publishing Company, a now 150-year-old newspaper company and the fourth generation of company leadership, he is a polished professional, a humble yet strong and dynamic leader, a reasonable and fair business person and a truly dedicated family man. Eliot exemplifies the mission of the company through informing the public, supporting the community, helping local business grow and providing a family culture for employees to thrive. In an industry that is rapidly changing, Eliot has struck the perfect balance between carrying on the legacy and tradition of previous generations while leading and supporting all the necessary changes for the company to evolve into a modern, cutting-edge media company.

The Boston Globe

Bob Ryan is a true Boston newspaper institution. He came to Boston as a freshman at Boston College in the 1960s.

He first started writing for the Globe in the spring of 1968 and (with the exception of a two-year stint in local television) remained a fixture in the Globe sports section until his formal retirement from his position as a columnist in 2012. In “retirement” Bob still writes more columns than may Globe staffers and his strong and institutional memory continue to inform and entertain Globe readers. Ryan left his mark, and continues to leave his mark, on the minds of newspaper readers. And he has done it for almost a half century.