NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Nationally respected journalist Charles Overby, who served as founding chair of the Associated Baptist Press board of directors 20 years ago, will be honored at an Oct. 21 banquet in Nashville, Tenn., along with other founders of the nation’s first and only independent news service created by and for Baptists.
Charles Overby
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ABP was formally founded on July 17, 1990 — the same day that the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee fired the two top editors of Baptist Press, the convention’s official news service. A conservative majority on the committee charged Dan Martin and Al Shackleford with bias in their reporting on the then-11-year-old struggle between theo-political conservatives and moderates for control of the SBC and its many affiliated agencies, a view not shared by a majority of editors of newspapers owned by Baptist state conventions who relied on Baptist Press for national news.
At the request of some of those editors, Overby — who was then chairman and CEO of the Gannett Foundation, now known as the Freedom Forum — agreed to head the fledgling news cooperative’s first board, lending it immediate visibility and respect among religious and secular journalists alike.
“Charles Overby was key to the early success of ABP,” said Dan Lattimore, dean of University College at the University of Memphis and current chair of ABP’s board. “He had the professional news credibility among the secular press combined with the leadership skills to move ABP out of its infancy into a major religious news service.”
Overby said he has been pleased to see ABP’s growth since then — from a part-time editor issuing two news summaries a week via mail and fax to a national, daily news service that produces upwards of 700 news, feature and opinion stories annually and delivers content through a multimedia Web platform as well as e-mail and social-media components. A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, ABP depends on donations from individuals, churches and other organizations and remains one of only a very small handful of independent religious news services in the country.
“ABP has played an important role in reporting news about Baptists in a credible, fair and comprehensive way,” Overby said. “It’s hard to believe that it’s been two decades since ABP began. The impact of ABP has exceeded the high expectations that we had in those early days.”
Overby has a long career in the news business. In 1983, under his leadership as editor of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., the paper won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its news and editorials on education reform in the Magnolia State. He worked for 16 years as reporter, editor and corporate executive for Gannett Co., the nation’s largest newspaper company. He was vice president for news and communications for Gannett and served on the management committees of Gannett and USA Today. As a reporter, he covered the White House, presidential campaigns, Congress and the Supreme Court.
Overby serves on the board of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. He is a member of the foundation board of the University of Mississippi, his alma mater, and a former member of the board of regents at Baylor University.
Overby has served two stints in government: He was press assistant to Sen. John Stennis (D-Miss.) and special assistant for administration to Gov. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).
He remains CEO of the Freedom Forum and its Diversity Institute as well as the Washington-based Newseum, an interactive museum dedicated to the history and future of news gathering, freedom of the press and other First Amendment liberties.
At the dinner, Overby will receive ABP’s Founders Award. The banquet will also honor the Baptist state newspaper editors who first chartered the organization as well as original board members and other past directors.
“My passion always revolved around helping the people in the pews to understand Baptist faith and life better,” Overby said. “ABP gave church members a greater awareness of what was going on in Baptist circles. The early heroes of ABP were its small committed staff, led by [first full-time Executive Editor] Greg Warner, and the editors of Baptist newspapers, true stalwarts of our faith.”
The banquet is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Maddox Grand Atrium of the Curb Event Center at Belmont University. Reservations are $30 per person, and can be made online here.
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Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.
Related ABP story:
ABP celebrates 20 years (7/19/2010)