Jan Touney

Managing Editor

Quad-City Times
Davenport, Iowa

Touney

Career summary: I moved to the Quad-City Times as managing editor in 2003 after spending most of my career at the Herald & Review in Decatur, Ill. I held jobs ranging from reporter and copy editor to features editor, city editor and associate editor.

Recent accomplishments: Helped organize the first "Journalism 101 boot camps" in Iowa, in conjunction with the Iowa APME and the Iowa Newspaper Association. The one-day training sessions, which will continue this year, targeted staff from smaller daily and weekly newspapers who do not have access to low-cost, quality training. I was inducted in 2005 to the Northern Star Hall of Fame at Northern Illinois University, my alma mater. I also was the co-chair of a team that developed a curriculum for training assigning editors in Lee Enterprises.

APME activities: I am immediate past president of the Iowa APME and currently serve on the board. I am an occasional contributor to APME News, contacting state organizations to write about their initiatives.

APME should: Provide support to its membership through idea sharing, training opportunities and mentoring. Establish a "buddy system" for members to get one-on-one advice with issues in their newsrooms. Vigorously challenge threats to freedom of information. Assist members in adapting to new technology and new ways of reporting and presenting the news.

In my spare time: I'd like to say that I do something exciting like hang-gliding, but the reality is that I enjoy reading biographies, listening to jazz and walking along the Mississippi River. I'm also a fan of minor league baseball and I try to get to as many games as I can.