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Michael Gartner (born October 25, 1938, in
Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
) is an American journalist, attorney and businessman. He was president of the Iowa Board of Regents.


Biography

A graduate of Carleton College and the
New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...
, Gartner was a member of the New York and Iowa bars as of 1997. His career in journalism began in the sports department of the ''
Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...
'' at the age of 15. After completing his undergraduate degree, he joined the staff of ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' (1960–1974), ultimately serving as page one editor. He then served as editor and president of the ''Des Moines Register'' (1974–1985), general news executive of the
Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' (1985–1986), editor of the Louisville ''
Courier-Journal ''The Courier-Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Net ...
'' (1986–1987) and president of
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's va ...
(1988–1993). He was president of the
American Society of Newspaper Editors The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) was a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of ...
from 1988 to 1993. As chair and editor of ''
The Daily Tribune The ''Daily Tribune'' is an English-language broadsheet publication in the Philippines. Its office is in the 3450 Concept Building, Florida Street, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. ''The Daily Tribune'', as it was called then, was founded o ...
'' in
Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medicin ...
from 1993 to 1999 (which he also co-owned from 1986 to 1999), Gartner won the 1997
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, ...
for a body of work about community issues. He previously served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board from 1983 to 1992. He has also been a columnist for the
Op-Ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. ...
pages of ''The Wall Street Journal'' and of ''USA Today.'' Gartner chaired the Vision Iowa fund, which provided communities money to fund projects such as the
Iowa Events Center The Iowa Events Center is a public events complex located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History The Iowa Events Center consists of the existing Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center, the existing Polk County Convention ...
in Des Moines, from 2000 to 2005. In May 2005, Iowa Gov.
Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. ...
named him president of the Iowa Board of Regents, which oversees the state's three public universities (the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 c ...
,
Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
, and the
University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and gra ...
). He served until December 2007. Gartner is chairman of Raccoon Baseball, Inc., which owned the
Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...
team from 1999 to 2021, and formerly was co-owner of Big Green Umbrella. When the Iowa Cubs were sold to Endeavor he and the other owners shared the proceeds with their full-time staff.


Dateline controversy

He resigned from NBC in 1993 as a result of controversy over the show ''
Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...
''. The show reported on dangers of GM pickup trucks, but did not state that it had actually staged the explosion of a truck for broadcast. Years later Gartner said, "It happened on my watch. I took responsibility for it. I did what I thought you ought to do when you make a mistake. You say 'we made a mistake' and apologize to the viewers." (''Iowa City Press-Citizen'', April 23, 2005.)


See also

* Journalism scandals


References


External links


Michael Gartner biography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gartner, Michael 1938 births Living people American male journalists American publishers (people) Writers from Des Moines, Iowa Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners Carleton College alumni NBC executives Presidents of NBC News New York University School of Law alumni Courier Journal people Minor league baseball executives