Former Globe executive is among four Yankee Quill winners
Four New England journalists, including former Boston Globe executive Al Larkin and a pioneer from the Colonial-era, are set to receive the Yankee Quill Award this fall for their contributions to the betterment of journalism in the region.
This year's honorees are Nelson Benton, editorial page editor of The Salem News; John Howe, editor and general manager of The Citizen in Laconia, N.H., and Al Larkin, recently retired executive vice president of The Boston Globe. A posthumous award will be made to Ann Smith Franklin, one of the nation's first female printers and editors.
The award is presented annually by the Academy of New England Journalists through the auspices of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors and the New England Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation. It is considered the highest individual honor awarded by fellow journalists in the region. The awards will be presented Nov. 14 in Boston.
Benton began working at The Salem Evening News in 1972 as an intern and has been a reporter, city editor, and managing editor of the paper. He has been writing political columns and editorials since 1985 and has been editorial page editor since the merger of the Salem News and the Beverly/Peabody Times in 1995.
The judges said Benton is being honored for applying his knowledge of the North Shore "to bring about positive civic change through forceful editorial writing, and serving as an insightful, authoritative source inside and outside the newsroom for developments that impact" his community.
Howe began working at The Citizen in 1977 as a reporter and later worked as wire editor, city editor, assistant managing editor, managing editor, and executive editor. He currently serves as editor and general manager and guided the paper through its acquisition by the George Foster Co., publisher of Foster's Daily Democrat in Dover.
Howe has been in the forefront of Freedom of Information and right-to-know issues in the state, has served as president of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors, and has been active in several civic projects and organizations in his community. Howe is being honored for being at the forefront of New Hampshire's freedom of information struggles and what the judges called his "exemplary devotion to producing a newspaper that sincerely cares about its community."
Larkin began working at The Boston Globe in 1972 as a police reporter and later worked at the paper's City Hall and State House bureaus. He served as editor of the Globe's Sunday magazine and in various editing capacities, including metropolitan deputy managing editor and managing editor for administration. In 1998, he moved to the paper's business side as vice president and assistant to the publisher, vice president of human resources, and executive vice president.
Larkin is being honored for his commitment to journalistic excellence and development of top newsroom talent while a reporter and editor at the Globe. The judges also recognized his "steadfast support for the people's right to know and the First Amendment in both the newsroom and the front office, and exemplary outreach efforts to connect the Globe to the broad and diverse community it serves."
Franklin established the first press in the Rhode Island colony, in 1727, with her husband James, the brother of Benjamin Franklin. When her husband died in 1735, Franklin ran the newspaper and eventually she and her son started the Newport Mercury, which publishes today. She died in 1763. 