CINCINNATI – Mizell Stewart III, a veteran newspaper journalist who has coordinated coverage of such high-profile news events as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the deadlocked 2000 presidential elections, has been named editor of the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press.
Stewart, 42, succeeds J. Bruce Baumann, who retired earlier this year.
The Courier & Press is owned and operated by The E. W. Scripps Company.
Stewart comes to Evansville from the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal where he has served as managing editor since February 2006. In Akron, Stewart supervised the day-to-day newsroom operations.
“Mizell has a proven track record of being a top-notch journalist, editor and leader,” said Jack Pate, president and publisher of the Courier & Press. “He will lend his considerable expertise to build on our strong tradition of journalistic excellence here in Evansville.”
Before moving to Akron, Stewart was a consultant for the former Knight Ridder newspapers. While in that role, he helped lead a team of Knight Ridder journalists who coordinated coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath at the Sun-Herald in Biloxi, Miss. The newspaper’s coverage won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Stewart also is the former editor and vice president of the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat. He moved to Tallahassee as managing editor in January 2000 and was promoted to the top newsroom position in May 2003.
In Tallahassee, Stewart was part of an operating team that successfully turned around a 15-year trend of declining circulation. He also directed several award-winning reporting efforts, including the newspaper’s coverage of the deadlocked 2000 presidential election and an in-depth examination of Florida’s foster care system.
From 1994 to 2000, Stewart worked at the Beacon Journal in a series of news editing posts. During that time, he also worked as a reporter and editor at the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News and as a reporter for the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun.
Originally from Cleveland, Stewart began his newspaper career in 1982 as a 16-year-old summer photography intern with Sun Newspapers.
He has lectured at The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and in the Department of Journalism at Bowling Green State University.
He has given presentations on leadership, management, reporting and diversity for the American Press Institute, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Writers Workshops, Investigative Reporters & Editors, the National Association of Black Journalists and the World Journalism Institute. He was a Pulitzer Prize juror in 2001 and 2002.
In 2007, Stewart was named a McCormick Tribune Fellow by the National Association of Minority Media Executives and attended the Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern University.
Stewart is a journalism graduate of Bowling Green State University.
About Scripps
The E. W. Scripps Company (www.scripps.com) is a diverse and growing media enterprise with interests in national cable networks, newspaper publishing, broadcast television stations, interactive media, and licensing and syndication.
The company’s portfolio of media properties includes: Scripps Networks, with such brands as HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living and Great American Country; daily and community newspapers in 17 markets and the Washington-based Scripps Media Center, home to the Scripps Howard News Service; 10 broadcast TV stations, including six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent; Scripps Interactive Media, including leading online search and comparison shopping services, Shopzilla and uSwitch; and United Media, a leading worldwide licensing and syndication company that is the home of PEANUTS, DILBERT and approximately 150 other features and comics.