A special Connection

Looking back on a long career at this newspaper, I take great pleasure in many things that have happened, but I am most proud of something that didn’t happen. I came to the Times as a reporter in 1978, the year that Nelson Poynter died. He was the last individual to own this company, and he was incredibly farsighted about the future of newspapers. Mr. Poynter recognized that when their owners died, local newspapers often wound up in the hands of chains, and he wanted the Times to remain independent and rooted here in Tampa Bay. So, Mr. Poynter did something generous and bold: when he died, he gave the Times away.

Forty-four years after his death, the Times is still owned by a journalism school that Mr. Poynter created, based in St. Petersburg. And this community still has an independent news company that cares first and foremost about the people and the future of Tampa Bay. It has not always been easy to preserve that extraordinary legacy. A corporate raider, the Great Recession and the internet economy have all presented themselves as challenges. This is not a business for the faint of heart.

Look around the Florida landscape. Every newspaper of any size has changed hands, some more than once, many just in the last five years. All of them are owned by corporations based outside Florida, some of them hedge funds. The exception is your newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times. Since Mr. Poynter died, it has become the leading news organization in Florida, branching out from print to digital forms of journalism, keeping our focus on Tampa Bay. Thanks to the Times, local kids have stronger teeth and healthy futures because there is fluoride in the drinking water. The people of Clearwater know that Scientologists have bought up properties throughout downtown, while the church’s plan is shrouded in mystery. Police in Tampa and Pasco County scaled back aggressive programs that targeted poor people and minorities. And our children’s hospital has a heart surgery program that can help sick babies, not hurt them.

The impact of the Times on this community goes back more than a century. The chain of parks that stretches along Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg is a civic treasure that traces directly to the crusading journalism of an early Times editor. Perhaps our reporting today will have such influence that lasts for generations. Our work would be impossible without the support from you, our friends. Subscriptions and advertising remain the lifeblood of our business, but during these last few years, donations have helped provide a margin of excellence for journalism at the Times. On behalf of all my colleagues at this extraordinary place, I thank you for your generous support, and I hope you will take real pleasure in the difference you are making – not just at the Times, but in the Tampa Bay region that all of us call home.

Winner of 13 Pulitzer Prizes

Paul Tash, Chairman