Francis Ward

Vice President of Print

Breaking into journalism usually requires this rule of thumb: go to college, do an internship and then after graduation, apply for an editorial job. But can you imagine working as a janitor for a daily paper making $40 a week AFTER you’ve graduated? That was the path NABJ Founder Francis Ward took in the early years of his career.

Ward, an Atlanta native and Morehouse graduate, worked in that capacity for the Atlanta Daily World. Within five months, Ward was later promoted to proofreader and got a raise of $4, bringing his salary to $44 week. He was also able to write articles. Ward later left to get a master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University and briefly worked as a social worker before heading to Chicago to work for Jet Magazine as a feature writer. After being promoted to Ebony, Ward was hired for the Chicago Sun Times.

Ward, 80, is now retired and doesn’t think much about the state of journalism today because the print and broadcast outlets “are owned by multi-national corporations who put too much emphasis on fluff and not serious news coverage.” As for his humble beginnings and early janitorial duties?  “I don’t regret doing it,” he said. “That’s what I needed to do to get my foot in the door.”

Courtesy: NABJ Journal Celebrating 40 Years Spring 2016/Vol. 33, No. 1