DANA CANEDY’S RISE FROM JOURNALISTIC ACCLAIM TO THE APEX OF PUBLISHING

The newsroom was divided. After winning a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of an Ohio town’s grappling with institutional racism, which acted as sort of a microcosm for how the nation was holding conversations on racial disparities in the mid 1990s, the Beacon Journal found its staff torn apart. 

Two of the daily publication’s writers, central to the award-winning series, one black and one white, butted heads through opinion pieces published by the newspaper as the decade approached its end. The disharmony was disastrous for the Journal, which had just celebrated years of public healing to bridge racial divides continuing to bog down both the town and the newsroom. 

While this was unfolding, a writer at The New York Times began planning a series of articles titled “How Race Is Lived in America.” Along with other writers, she would travel the United States to understand better how Americans viewed and experienced race as the country looked toward the dawn of a new millennium.

To help make sense of the conflicting perspectives and the corrosive effects on both Akron and the publication, Dana Canedy traveled to the small Ohio city. Once there, she found a media environment polarized by different perceptions of race. With a careful precision that captured the humanity of all the perspectives involved, she reported on conversations that simultaneously felt shocking and familiar to audiences around the country. Her piece would be titled "The Hurt Between the Lines: A Newsroom Divides After a Healing Series on Race."

For her role in helping to orchestrate the massive undertaking and for her contribution to the series, Canedy would receive a Pulitzer Prize in 2001. Since she received the hallmark achievement in reporting, she’s written a celebrated memoir, become the first African American, first woman and youngest person to be elected administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, and, most recently, taken the position as Publisher and Vice President at Simon & Schuster.

Who Is Dana Canedy?

Although she was born in Indianapolis, Dana Canedy was raised in Radcliffe, Kentucky, just outside of Fort Knox. Her father was a career military man, and while she fostered a complicated relationship with both of her parents throughout her life because of their often tumultuous relationship, she still values the discipline they instilled in her from a young age.

She also owes a great deal of her success to her formative years in the Commonwealth: “I wouldn’t be here in New York doing the things that I’m doing,” she told us, “if it weren’t for my upbringing in Kentucky.”

She attributes much of the direction in her life to the “fabulous education” she received in her youth. “My teachers saw that I had an interest in writing and in reading,” she said. “And they really pushed and encouraged me and gave me the confidence to think that I could become a professional writer, whether it be a journalist or any other kind of writer.”

Building from the encouragement she received from her early educators, she channeled her motivation to write into a budding career. As she prepared to graduate high school, her decision to continue her education became an easy one. “Even before I thought of being an author,” she said, “I knew I wanted to be a journalist, and lo and behold, UK has one of the best journalism programs still in the country.” The University of Kentucky’s journalism school would also prepare another future New York Times writer in Michael Wines.

She was right about UK’s reputation in training journalists, her degree would ultimately land her immediate employment after graduation and long-term acclaim as a journalist. After interning at The Plain Dealer, reporting for The Palm Beach Post, and then returning to Cleveland for a full reporter position at The Plain Dealer, she moved onto a dream position for any journalist: The New York Times. There, she “covered the finances, management, and product development of some of the largest corporations in the world -- Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, and Gillete among them,” she wrote in her memoir. 

She would work for the Times for 20 years, rising from reporter to senior editor during her tenure and covering some of the most important historical, cultural, and political moments at the turn of the century. As a Times bureau chief in Florida, she reported on and led a team of journalists as the state plunged into chaos during the 2000 presidential election. In that same position, she also researched and wrote about the flight school that taught the terrorists responsible for the attacks on 9/11.

The Pressures of Leading the Way

When she won the Pulitzer Prize for “How Race Is Lived in America” in 2001, she felt a tension that would become common as her career progressed. Going through journalism school as one of the few people of color to working at the Times as one of a handful of African American women, she had to adjust to a uniquely mounting pressure.

In her memoir, she wrote about how she had to navigate these stresses in her daily life:

“It was not just that I felt there would be no second chances if I messed up, it was that I sometimes felt like a standard bearer for all African American journalists who aspired to work at the Times. I also never got used to the awkward moments when a white banker or politician I had cultivated as a source on the phone met me and seemed shocked that I was black.”

So much has changed in the national conversation since her award-winning piece was published. “We are in a worse place than we were when that series of articles was written and published,” she told us. “I will tell you quite honestly, what we’ve experienced in the last year and a half has broken my heart.”

After yet another year that necessitated massive civil rights demonstrations, she understands that this moment we must navigate as a nation is an important one. Canedy remains optimistic going forward, though, stating that

“Most people are, I believe, on the right side of this. Now, the problem is there aren’t enough people who take what they feel in their heart as a call to action. Whether that is marching with the protestors, or saying ‘you know what, I’ve actually never hired a black person in my company or given somebody an internship who is a person of color.’ Or, as I’ve done in my career and have asked others who have worked for me to do, give people stretch assignments and help them grow. There are things we can all do if we care. And that’s what we have to do.”

Grieving with A Journal for Jordan

While Dana Canedy has certainly had to overcome a variety of obstacles to find success in her career, nothing could have prepared her for an unexpected tragedy in her personal life. Coming from a military family and witnessing the difficulties that posed to everyone at home, she promised herself never to become romantically connected to anyone in the military. That all changed, though, when her father of all people introduced her to Charles King when she was visiting Kentucky in the late 1990s. 

She was immediately drawn to his direct, respectful and disciplined nature, and his artistic ability -- particularly his displays in pointillism -- intrigued her. The two would date long-distance, with her career keeping her in New York and his anchoring him, at first, in Kentucky. As a First Sergeant in the United States Army, he was primarily responsible for training and leading new recruits.

Jordan, Dana Canedy, and Charles King, courtesy of NPR

After 9/11, when the United States entered into a new war with Iraq, King’s career in the military escalated. Still, they managed to continue to grow their relationship despite his upcoming deployment to the Middle East, and ultimately they decided to have a child together.

After she became pregnant and before he was stationed overseas, they needed to sort out necessary paperwork in case anything happened to Charles in combat. Through these conversations, Canedy decided to give him a journal, one with questions and prompts to give their unborn child a better idea of who Charles was and how he saw the world. In March 2006, Canedy would give birth to their son Jordan.

Tragically, Charles King would lose his life to an IED only seven months later. Canedy would enter an unimaginable period of grief. To help navigate and make better sense of her own mourning process, she turned to writing. By splicing portions of the journal he had left for his son, Canedy reflected on her relationship with Charles to create her celebrated memoir A Journal for Jordan. 

“I’ve given lots of talks around the country and different parts of the world about finding purpose after tragedy and about my book, and I say that really in those early days — I mean this sincerely — some days, success is just getting off the floor or getting out of the bed.”

After taking a leave of absence from the Times to give herself the time and space to mourn, she knew she had to channel her feelings productively.“I decided I had to do something with this or I was going to lose my mind,” she told us. “I had to do something positive.” 

Originally published in 2008, Dana Canedy is now in the process of producing the film adaptation of Journal for Jordan, directed by Denzel Washington and starring Michael B. Jordan as her late fiance Charles King.

A Career in Elevating the Unexpected

Her tendency during her tenure as the arbiter for the Pulitzer Prizes was to highlight unconventional stories and give voices to otherwise marginalized voices. When she worked at the Pulitzer Prizes and administered the awards, she made a point to recognize perspectives that have long been ignored by those who have held her position. For example, in 2018 she awarded Kendrick Lamar the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his album DAMN.

Dana Canedy courtesy AP

Now as the first black woman to lead a major publisher in the role of Vice President and Publisher at Simon & Schuster, she has maintained that dedication to highlighting the stories of those often forgotten in the national conversation. 

Still, despite her acclaimed career as a writer and her meteoric rise to the apex of publishing, she remains humble in her message to students who wish to emulate her: “Don’t aspire to be the next Dana Canedy. Aspire to be the next whoever you are.”

On February 1, Kentucky to the World will present an exclusive conversation between Dana Canedy and former Editor of the Courier Journal Rick Green. 

To watch the program, please visit this premiere page.