20 Under 40 - 1996 Profile: Fontella White

PRESSTIME

By Presstime Magazine

First Published: December 1996

During last year's Million Man March, Fontella White refused to sign off on a march-related column that she deemed offensive.

Syracuse Newspapers published the column anyway. When community reaction and, later, upper management, supported White's position, however, the assistant managing editor of day operations did not toss around "I told you so."

She used the incident to open discussions about how to avoid similar problems in the future. Questionable stories shouldn't make it into print, she says. "We had to learn our lesson the hard way."

Her boss, Executive Editor Michael J. Connor, praises White's ability to discuss difficult coverage issues, saying "Fontella is, in a sense, a proxy for the reader."

White reports herself "totally wedded" to an industry she was "shoved" into when a college professor insisted she join her college newspaper. A police reporter at heart who says "there's no one with a better scanner ear," White reported for six years before becoming an editor. Hesitant to see herself as a role model, White nevertheless will take a stand. She read a week's worth of papers before her initial interview with the Syracuse Herald-Journal and The Post-Standard, then challenged interviewers on why she saw so few black faces and so little coverage of local schools. Impressed editors not only hired her, but also conducted a photo-content audit that resulted in concrete changes in how the paper looks at its community.

While some see her as gutsy, White does not consider herself heroic.

"I try to pick my fights carefully," she says, "but when there's a fight to be fought, I believe I have a responsibility to do so."