Bob Ritter (BA Radio & TV News, 1972)
After graduating
from Fresno State in 1972 with a radio-television major, Bob Ritter
pursued his passion and commitment to the craft of print journalism
as a reporter, editor and publisher for 38 years.
Ritter’s career has taken him from the San Joaquin
Valley to Reno, Denver, Washington, D.C., New York and Seattle.
Ritter believes that high-quality journalism
–practiced responsibly with utmost care for accuracy and
fairness – is critical to democracy.
That philosophy has guided him from his first reporting job in Visalia to executive editor of the Denver Post, president and editor of Gannett News Service in Washington and editor of the Journal News in suburban New York.
Publications under Ritter’s direction have been praised for precise day-to-day news coverage and award-winning investigative reporting. He has directed coverage of two presidential campaigns, Congress, the White House and countless major news events. Gannett News Service was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting during Ritter’s tenure.
He has been national president of the Associated Press
Managing Editors Association and chaired the California Society of
Newspaper Editors. Ritter has been a discussion leader at the
American Press Institute, a lecturer at the National Judicial
College and a Pulitzer Prize juror on several occasions.
He is a member of the American Society of News Editors,
Investigative Reporters and Editors and the College Media
Association.
Currently, he is a professional-in- residence and director
of Student Media of the Manship School of Mass Communication at
Louisiana State University.
His most cherished honor came earlier this year when, after
his first semester teaching at LSU, he received a Distinguished
Teaching Award. His students nominated him.
Ritter and his wife, Marguerite, reside in Baton Rouge. They
have three children and two grandchildren.
