Garry D. Howard

Pioneering Sports Journalism with Passion

By Jay Scott Smith

The term “pioneer” is one of a number of words that could describe GARRY D. HOWARD and after more than three decades, he’s finally being honored as such.

“It’s a phone call from the president of the National Association of Black

Journalists that brings tears to your eyes,” Howard said. “After working tirelessly for over 35 years as a journalist, it is a thrill to be inducted into the NABJ Hall of Fame.” A graduate of Lehigh University and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Howard began his career as a sports reporter at the Trenton Times as a sports reporter. He later went on to the Philadelphia Inquirer where he worked his way from reporter, to copy editor to deputy sports editor.

“My true passion was always sports,” Howard said during the Hall of Fame Luncheon at the 2019 NABJ Convention in Miami. “I wanted to become the power that be — just for a chance that someone with my talents would be seen for his brilliance and not the color of his skin.”

Howard eventually left Philly for Milwaukee where he would become

sports editor at the Journal Sentinel in 1994. He was the only Black sports editor in the country at the time, something he thanked editor Marty Kaiser for making happen.

“Marty Kaiser made it possible. Why? Because he truly saw me,” he said. “I was no longer invisible. And with that power to be I was able to make superstars in this business who looked like me.”

Howard later went on to be editorin-chief of The Sporting News. He would serve as president of the Associated Press Sports Editors – making him the first African American to hold that position in the organization’s history.

A former NABJ Sports Task Force President, Howard received the Sam Lacy Pioneer Award in 2009.

Howard was named director of Corporate Initiatives at American City Business Journals in 2014, and he now serves on the Dow Jones News Fund Board along with multiple journalism school boards.

“I’ve always believed I was the master of my fate — the captain of my soul,” he said. “I’m here to tell you, you can be too.”

Jay Scott Smith is a news anchor and reporter at KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia

Congratulates

Camille Respess University of Florida ACEL MOORE SCHOLARSHIP FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM

Stefan Sykes Columbia University ACEL MOORE SCHOLARSHIP FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM

Jazmin Goodwin Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY DR. SHEILA BROOKS NABJ ENTREPRENEUR SCHOLARSHIP

Nina Torres Florida Memorial University ISIAH THOMAS SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT SCHOLARSHIP

Sterling Bright Florida A&M University LARRY WHITESIDE SCHOLARSHIP

Tyisha Blade Cleveland State University LES PAYNE FOUNDER’S SCHOLARSHIP

Levar Alonzo New York University NABJ SCHOLARSHIP Kayla Stewart New York University NABJ SCHOLARSHIP

Alyssa Burr Michigan State University NABJ FOUNDER’S SCHOLARSHIP: CAROLE BARTEL

Ashlea Brown Spelman College NABJ PRESIDENT’S SCHOLARSHIP: CHUCK STONE

Juliet Ball Texas A&M University NABJ-ESPN STUART SCOTT INTERNSHIP-SCHOLARSHIP

Evelyn Downer San Jose State University VISUAL TASK FORCE SCHOLARSHIP

Donnie Minor Central Michigan University VISUAL TASK FORCE SCHOLARSHIP Zoe Jackson Western Michigan University FACEBOOK JOURNALISM PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP

Marry Lima Ferreira Busquet Rutgers University - School of Communication and Information FACEBOOK JOURNALISM PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP

Jackline Kemigisa New York University - Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute FACEBOOK JOURNALISM PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP

Chilee Agunanna New York Film Academy FACEBOOK JOURNALISM PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP

Cara Hackett American University FACEBOOK JOURNALISM PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP

Tony Betton Jr. Georgia State University REGION III SCHOLARSHIP

OUR 2019 SCHOLARSHIP Recipients