JOE GRIMM

Professional experience

Summary: Journalist and educator, I have spent more than half my career recruiting and developing media professionals for some of the largest news operations in the country. These passions made me a coaching editor and a teacher who helps students in their careers. I am a relational recruiter in that I work by following people as they grow. My guiding principle is that diversity improves content and every project I work on.

Michigan State University School of Journalism
2008-present

Visiting editor in residence

I teach public affairs reporting, editing for digital and print, cultural competence and professional branding. We create hyperlocal news sites and publish books across print and digital platforms. I am also involved in helping bring talented high school students into the school and am adviser to the campus chapters of SPJ and NABJ.

Created an online course in editing, a professional branding course that uses badges as incentives and one that publishes a series of cultural competence guides. The Bias Busters series will have 15 guides by 2018.

In the public affairs journalism course, students build news sites for the communities around our campus. In the spring of 2017 one class covered the developments with the five freedoms in the First Amendment during the first 100 days of the new presidential administration.

In 2015, I lectured at Saint Petersburg State University and Arkhangelsk State Technical University as a guest of the U.S. Consulate in Russia. I am booked to teach at Russia's Pskov State University in 2017. In 2013-14, I taught communication and message development to Saudi Aramco professionals online and twice at Aramco offices in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

In 2015-2016, I was on the development and teaching team for an online Coursera specialization in journalism.

Organized a 2013 Specialized Reporting Institute in Detroit for the Poynter Institute, "Grading the Teachers," funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and collaborated with the Education Writers Association for a second workshop that year in Chicago.

Detroit Free Press
1990 to 2008

As recruiting and development editor, I coordinated talent acquisition and staff development for a newsroom staff of 300 through a 21-month strike, the move into our competitor’s building, the rise of online, downsizing and the overnight switch from Knight Ridder to Gannett. Have been on both companies’ corporate recruiting teams, most recently helping with creation of a Gannett Digital initiative.

• Helped the Free Press achieve newsroom diversity of 31 percent, highest among the nation’s 20 largest newspapers.
• Organized 16 Spirit of Diversity job fairs and helped the Online News Association organize its inaugural job fair in September, 2008.
• From 1991 through 2008, I recruited at 52 of 55 NABJ, AAJA, NAHJ, NAJA and UNITY conventions, more than anyone in the country.
• Produced "100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans" in 1999. I posted it early on Sept. 12, 2001, it had runaway traffic and was named the educational site of the week. More than 30,000 print copies distributed.
• In 1997, launched the JobsPage, the dominant information source for newspaper careers. For its 10th anniversary, I  reverse published it as a book (my fifth) and launched the newsrecruiter.com hub site.
• Created Ask the Recruiter blog in 2003. For several years it was the featured element in the Poynter Institute’s Career Center. Peak unique views have been 200,000 per month. Reverse published that content as "The Best of Ask the Recruiter" in July, 2008, promoting it through social networks including a Facebook group.
• An experienced online networker, I am active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and have built private social networks on the Ning platform for the Free Press (420 members) and the Kaiser Foundation health reporting interns (75 members).
• Worked on the Free Press Web team, as news editor and on our copy desk.
• Led staff training in harassment prevention, selection interviews, evaluations, conflict resolution (AchieveGlobal), diversity and orientations
• Contributing writer to Editor & Publisher, the Newspaper Association of America, UNITY, ASNE, J-IDEAS, Chips Quinn, more.
• Newspaper Association of America diversity committee’s Youth Recruitment Task Force

1983-1990
Copy editor, page designer, deputy executive news editor, Sunday Comment editor, youngest newspaper ombudsman in the United States.

Northwestern-Medill Journalism Institute
2009-present

As instructor and then head instructor since 2015, teach reporting, writing and ethics to U.S. and international high school students in Medill School of Journalism's highly selective five-week residency.

Detroit Journalism Cooperative
2014-2016

Detroit contact for a news collaboration arranged by Renaissance Journalism at San Francisco State University. It brought together Bridge Magazine, Detroit Public TV, WDET public radio in Detroit, Michigan Radio and ethnic publishers including The Michigan Chronicle, The Detroit Jewish News, Bridge Magazine, The Arab American News, the Latino Reporter and the Michigan Korean Weekly. Funded by the Ford Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundations.

The Poynter Institute
2006 to August 2014

At various points, wrote five-day-a-week Ask the Recruiter blog, organized twice-monthly web chats with industry thought leaders and appeared in webinars. The blog was began in September 2003 as a daily spinoff blog from my Jobspage.com website, launched in 1997 and it became part of Poynter's website in 2006. The JobsPage site also spun off two books: "Breaking In" and "The Best of Ask the Recruiter."

Freedom Forum Diversity Institute
2010 to December 2012

Adjunct faculty member and columnist I blogged about careers and diversity in journalism. Also taught at Diversity Institute workshops (American Indian Journalism Institute, UNITY) and helped recruit students for the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Scholarships, which chose students from all 50 states and D.C.

Internet Evolution, division of United Business Media's CMP Technology
2009-2011

Contributing writer for news developments related to "the web of things" RFID technology, a virtual choir, medical devices, Nixle and StatSheet, a writing program positioned as part of an automated Journalism 2.0.

TIME Inc.'s Assignment Detroit
2010-2011

Coached 11 marvelous high school journalists who helped provide youthful, diverse perspectives for the TIME.com project that "embedded" in Detroit by purchasing a house to be its bureau.

Patch.com (AOL)
September 2009 to January 2010

Recruited local content editors for this hyperlocal news startup. Concentrated on networks around Cleveland, Milwaukee, Akron with some hires near Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle.

Reznetnews.org

August 2008 to August 2010

I worked with contributors, edited copy, updated the site, processed photos, wrote headlines and optimized content for this website that gave Native American student journalists a platform for their work.

Wall Street Journal classroom edition
December 2008 to March 2010

During the school year, I wrote one teacher's guide per month for this publication, which helped students use the Wall Street Journal in their classrooms.

American Press Institute
1999-2000

In my first experience with distance learning, I taught editing on the FirstClass online-learning platform. Participants were editors in U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. I have since taught online with Coursera, Blackboard, Angel and D2L.

The Oakland (Pontiac, Mich.) Press
1976 to 1983

Copy editor, 1A designer, regional editor, columnist, editorial writer. I was on the core team that created a Sunday edition and participated in our conversion from afternoon publication to mornings and to a computerized front-end system for the newsroom. 

Oakland (Michigan) University
1980 to 2009

Adjunct faculty member, taught media editing, news editing, editorial writing, basic news writing and photojournalism.

Education

University of Michigan
1975
BA in journalism with a minor in psychology and a certificate to teach in high schools.  With honors. Completed in three years.

1976
MA in journalism, with honors. Program included training in print, radio and television.

Summary: Journalist and educator, I have spent more than half my career recruiting and developing media professionals for some of the largest news operations in the country. These passions made me a coaching editor and a teacher who helps students in their careers. I am a relational recruiter in that I work by following people as they grow. My guiding principle is that diversity improves content and every project I work on.

Michigan State University School of Journalism
2008-present

Visiting editor in residence

I teach public affairs reporting, editing for digital and print, cultural competence and professional branding. We create hyperlocal news sites and publish books across print and digital platforms. I am also involved in helping bring talented high school students into the school and am adviser to the campus chapters of SPJ and NABJ.

Created an online course in editing, a professional branding course that uses badges as incentives and one that publishes a series of cultural competence guides. The Bias Busters series will have 15 guides by 2018.

In the public affairs journalism course, students build news sites for the communities around our campus. In the spring of 2017 one class covered the developments with the five freedoms in the First Amendment during the first 100 days of the new presidential administration.

In 2015, I lectured at Saint Petersburg State University and Arkhangelsk State Technical University as a guest of the U.S. Consulate in Russia. I am booked to teach at Russia's Pskov State University in 2017. In 2013-14, I taught communication and message development to Saudi Aramco professionals online and twice at Aramco offices in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

In 2015-2016, I was on the development and teaching team for an online Coursera specialization in journalism.

Organized a 2013 Specialized Reporting Institute in Detroit for the Poynter Institute, "Grading the Teachers," funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and collaborated with the Education Writers Association for a second workshop that year in Chicago.

Detroit Free Press
1990 to 2008

As recruiting and development editor, I coordinated talent acquisition and staff development for a newsroom staff of 300 through a 21-month strike, the move into our competitor’s building, the rise of online, downsizing and the overnight switch from Knight Ridder to Gannett. Have been on both companies’ corporate recruiting teams, most recently helping with creation of a Gannett Digital initiative.

• Helped the Free Press achieve newsroom diversity of 31 percent, highest among the nation’s 20 largest newspapers.
• Organized 16 Spirit of Diversity job fairs and helped the Online News Association organize its inaugural job fair in September, 2008.
• From 1991 through 2008, I recruited at 52 of 55 NABJ, AAJA, NAHJ, NAJA and UNITY conventions, more than anyone in the country.
• Produced "100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans" in 1999. I posted it early on Sept. 12, 2001, it had runaway traffic and was named the educational site of the week. More than 30,000 print copies distributed.
• In 1997, launched the JobsPage, the dominant information source for newspaper careers. For its 10th anniversary, I  reverse published it as a book (my fifth) and launched the newsrecruiter.com hub site.
• Created Ask the Recruiter blog in 2003. For several years it was the featured element in the Poynter Institute’s Career Center. Peak unique views have been 200,000 per month. Reverse published that content as "The Best of Ask the Recruiter" in July, 2008, promoting it through social networks including a Facebook group.
• An experienced online networker, I am active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and have built private social networks on the Ning platform for the Free Press (420 members) and the Kaiser Foundation health reporting interns (75 members).
• Worked on the Free Press Web team, as news editor and on our copy desk.
• Led staff training in harassment prevention, selection interviews, evaluations, conflict resolution (AchieveGlobal), diversity and orientations
• Contributing writer to Editor & Publisher, the Newspaper Association of America, UNITY, ASNE, J-IDEAS, Chips Quinn, more.
• Newspaper Association of America diversity committee’s Youth Recruitment Task Force

1983-1990
Copy editor, page designer, deputy executive news editor, Sunday Comment editor, youngest newspaper ombudsman in the United States.

Northwestern-Medill Journalism Institute
2009-present

As instructor and then head instructor since 2015, teach reporting, writing and ethics to U.S. and international high school students in Medill School of Journalism's highly selective five-week residency.

Detroit Journalism Cooperative
2014-2016

Detroit contact for a news collaboration arranged by Renaissance Journalism at San Francisco State University. It brought together Bridge Magazine, Detroit Public TV, WDET public radio in Detroit, Michigan Radio and ethnic publishers including The Michigan Chronicle, The Detroit Jewish News, Bridge Magazine, The Arab American News, the Latino Reporter and the Michigan Korean Weekly. Funded by the Ford Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundations.

The Poynter Institute
2006 to August 2014

At various points, wrote five-day-a-week Ask the Recruiter blog, organized twice-monthly web chats with industry thought leaders and appeared in webinars. The blog was began in September 2003 as a daily spinoff blog from my Jobspage.com website, launched in 1997 and it became part of Poynter's website in 2006. The JobsPage site also spun off two books: "Breaking In" and "The Best of Ask the Recruiter."

Freedom Forum Diversity Institute
2010 to December 2012

Adjunct faculty member and columnist I blogged about careers and diversity in journalism. Also taught at Diversity Institute workshops (American Indian Journalism Institute, UNITY) and helped recruit students for the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Scholarships, which chose students from all 50 states and D.C.

Internet Evolution, division of United Business Media's CMP Technology
2009-2011

Contributing writer for news developments related to "the web of things" RFID technology, a virtual choir, medical devices, Nixle and StatSheet, a writing program positioned as part of an automated Journalism 2.0.

TIME Inc.'s Assignment Detroit
2010-2011

Coached 11 marvelous high school journalists who helped provide youthful, diverse perspectives for the TIME.com project that "embedded" in Detroit by purchasing a house to be its bureau.

Patch.com (AOL)
September 2009 to January 2010

Recruited local content editors for this hyperlocal news startup. Concentrated on networks around Cleveland, Milwaukee, Akron with some hires near Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle.

Reznetnews.org

August 2008 to August 2010

I worked with contributors, edited copy, updated the site, processed photos, wrote headlines and optimized content for this website that gave Native American student journalists a platform for their work.

Wall Street Journal classroom edition
December 2008 to March 2010

During the school year, I wrote one teacher's guide per month for this publication, which helped students use the Wall Street Journal in their classrooms.

American Press Institute
1999-2000

In my first experience with distance learning, I taught editing on the FirstClass online-learning platform. Participants were editors in U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. I have since taught online with Coursera, Blackboard, Angel and D2L.

The Oakland (Pontiac, Mich.) Press
1976 to 1983

Copy editor, 1A designer, regional editor, columnist, editorial writer. I was on the core team that created a Sunday edition and participated in our conversion from afternoon publication to mornings and to a computerized front-end system for the newsroom. 

Oakland (Michigan) University
1980 to 2009

Adjunct faculty member, taught media editing, news editing, editorial writing, basic news writing and photojournalism.

Education

University of Michigan
1975
BA in journalism with a minor in psychology and a certificate to teach in high schools.  With honors. Completed in three years.

1976
MA in journalism, with honors. Program included training in print, radio and television.

Professional experience

Summary: Journalist and educator, I have spent more than half my career recruiting and developing media professionals for some of the largest news operations in the country. These passions made me a coaching editor and a teacher who helps students in their careers. I am a relational recruiter in that I work by following people as they grow. My guiding principle is that diversity improves content and every project I work on.

Michigan State University School of Journalism
2008-present

Visiting editor in residence

I teach public affairs reporting, editing for digital and print, cultural competence and professional branding. We create hyperlocal news sites and publish books across print and digital platforms. I am also involved in helping bring talented high school students into the school and am adviser to the campus chapters of SPJ and NABJ.

Created an online course in editing, a professional branding course that uses badges as incentives and one that publishes a series of cultural competence guides. The Bias Busters series will have 15 guides by 2018.

In the public affairs journalism course, students build news sites for the communities around our campus. In the spring of 2017 one class covered the developments with the five freedoms in the First Amendment during the first 100 days of the new presidential administration.

In 2015, I lectured at Saint Petersburg State University and Arkhangelsk State Technical University as a guest of the U.S. Consulate in Russia. I am booked to teach at Russia's Pskov State University in 2017. In 2013-14, I taught communication and message development to Saudi Aramco professionals online and twice at Aramco offices in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

In 2015-2016, I was on the development and teaching team for an online Coursera specialization in journalism.

Organized a 2013 Specialized Reporting Institute in Detroit for the Poynter Institute, "Grading the Teachers," funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and collaborated with the Education Writers Association for a second workshop that year in Chicago.

Detroit Free Press
1990 to 2008

As recruiting and development editor, I coordinated talent acquisition and staff development for a newsroom staff of 300 through a 21-month strike, the move into our competitor’s building, the rise of online, downsizing and the overnight switch from Knight Ridder to Gannett. Have been on both companies’ corporate recruiting teams, most recently helping with creation of a Gannett Digital initiative.

• Helped the Free Press achieve newsroom diversity of 31 percent, highest among the nation’s 20 largest newspapers.
• Organized 16 Spirit of Diversity job fairs and helped the Online News Association organize its inaugural job fair in September, 2008.
• From 1991 through 2008, I recruited at 52 of 55 NABJ, AAJA, NAHJ, NAJA and UNITY conventions, more than anyone in the country.
• Produced "100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans" in 1999. I posted it early on Sept. 12, 2001, it had runaway traffic and was named the educational site of the week. More than 30,000 print copies distributed.
• In 1997, launched the JobsPage, the dominant information source for newspaper careers. For its 10th anniversary, I  reverse published it as a book (my fifth) and launched the newsrecruiter.com hub site.
• Created Ask the Recruiter blog in 2003. For several years it was the featured element in the Poynter Institute’s Career Center. Peak unique views have been 200,000 per month. Reverse published that content as "The Best of Ask the Recruiter" in July, 2008, promoting it through social networks including a Facebook group.
• An experienced online networker, I am active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and have built private social networks on the Ning platform for the Free Press (420 members) and the Kaiser Foundation health reporting interns (75 members).
• Worked on the Free Press Web team, as news editor and on our copy desk.
• Led staff training in harassment prevention, selection interviews, evaluations, conflict resolution (AchieveGlobal), diversity and orientations
• Contributing writer to Editor & Publisher, the Newspaper Association of America, UNITY, ASNE, J-IDEAS, Chips Quinn, more.
• Newspaper Association of America diversity committee’s Youth Recruitment Task Force

1983-1990
Copy editor, page designer, deputy executive news editor, Sunday Comment editor, youngest newspaper ombudsman in the United States.

Northwestern-Medill Journalism Institute
2009-present

As instructor and then head instructor since 2015, teach reporting, writing and ethics to U.S. and international high school students in Medill School of Journalism's highly selective five-week residency.

Detroit Journalism Cooperative
2014-2016

Detroit contact for a news collaboration arranged by Renaissance Journalism at San Francisco State University. It brought together Bridge Magazine, Detroit Public TV, WDET public radio in Detroit, Michigan Radio and ethnic publishers including The Michigan Chronicle, The Detroit Jewish News, Bridge Magazine, The Arab American News, the Latino Reporter and the Michigan Korean Weekly. Funded by the Ford Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundations.

The Poynter Institute
2006 to August 2014

At various points, wrote five-day-a-week Ask the Recruiter blog, organized twice-monthly web chats with industry thought leaders and appeared in webinars. The blog was began in September 2003 as a daily spinoff blog from my Jobspage.com website, launched in 1997 and it became part of Poynter's website in 2006. The JobsPage site also spun off two books: "Breaking In" and "The Best of Ask the Recruiter."

Freedom Forum Diversity Institute
2010 to December 2012

Adjunct faculty member and columnist I blogged about careers and diversity in journalism. Also taught at Diversity Institute workshops (American Indian Journalism Institute, UNITY) and helped recruit students for the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Scholarships, which chose students from all 50 states and D.C.

Internet Evolution, division of United Business Media's CMP Technology
2009-2011

Contributing writer for news developments related to "the web of things" RFID technology, a virtual choir, medical devices, Nixle and StatSheet, a writing program positioned as part of an automated Journalism 2.0.

TIME Inc.'s Assignment Detroit
2010-2011

Coached 11 marvelous high school journalists who helped provide youthful, diverse perspectives for the TIME.com project that "embedded" in Detroit by purchasing a house to be its bureau.

Patch.com (AOL)
September 2009 to January 2010

Recruited local content editors for this hyperlocal news startup. Concentrated on networks around Cleveland, Milwaukee, Akron with some hires near Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle.

Reznetnews.org

August 2008 to August 2010

I worked with contributors, edited copy, updated the site, processed photos, wrote headlines and optimized content for this website that gave Native American student journalists a platform for their work.

Wall Street Journal classroom edition
December 2008 to March 2010

During the school year, I wrote one teacher's guide per month for this publication, which helped students use the Wall Street Journal in their classrooms.

American Press Institute
1999-2000

In my first experience with distance learning, I taught editing on the FirstClass online-learning platform. Participants were editors in U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. I have since taught online with Coursera, Blackboard, Angel and D2L.

The Oakland (Pontiac, Mich.) Press
1976 to 1983

Copy editor, 1A designer, regional editor, columnist, editorial writer. I was on the core team that created a Sunday edition and participated in our conversion from afternoon publication to mornings and to a computerized front-end system for the newsroom. 

Oakland (Michigan) University
1980 to 2009

Adjunct faculty member, taught media editing, news editing, editorial writing, basic news writing and photojournalism.

Education

University of Michigan
1975
BA in journalism with a minor in psychology and a certificate to teach in high schools.  With honors. Completed in three years.

1976
MA in journalism, with honors. Program included training in print, radio and television.