‘Reporter of the Year’ at the Cincinnati Enquirer is still learning

Patricia Gallagher Newberry has always been a skeptic. So journalism was, of course, an excellent fit for her.

“I'm kind of a contrarian by nature,” Newberry said. “I like to question things. I am skeptical. And so it was a good combination of my personality, my psyche and my skill set.”

Currently, Newberry works for the Cincinnati Enquirer, covering topics like transportation and criminal trials. Recently, she was awarded “Reporter of the Year” in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) for her work at the Enquirer.

Over her nearly 45-year career, Newberry has held several positions – from a journalist to a press secretary to even teaching. 

Her experience with journalism began in college, when she attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and immediately got involved with her campus newspaper, The Daily Nebraskan. She interviewed the then editor-in-chief for an English assignment and was offered a job right after.

She was a reporter for the first two years, covering topics like student government and state legislature. By her senior year, she was editor-in-chief. 

“It was my home away from home,” Newberry said. “I lived at home through college. I did not live on campus, and so it became my tribe.”

During college, she earned internships for local Nebraskan papers and even worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Alongside journalism, she studied English and political science.

After graduating in 1983, she got a job at The Coloradoan in Fort Collins, Colorado, as a business reporter, where she covered small businesses and real estate.

She didn’t stay for long before returning to Nebraska and working as a press secretary for a woman running for U.S. Senate. Newberry said she “told reporters whatever they asked me, which apparently is not the job of the press secretary.”

When she was barred from talking to reporters, she quit and returned to her childhood bedroom. She waited tables at a restaurant before getting an offer for a business reporter position at the Indianapolis News. 

Newberry said it's important for young journalists to understand how key early relationships are in the industry. For instance, the former editor-in-chief she interviewed was a strong booster of her early career, and the editor at The Coloradoan was a graduate of the journalism program at her alma mater.

“This idea of networking, it's very organic,” Newberry said. “It's not a scary process. It just happens when you create relationships and work with people.”

The Coloradoan editor is how Newberry ended up at the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1986, when the paper was expanding its business section.

Newberry stayed at the Enquirer for about eight years. After she and her husband had their first child, the two moved to Newberry’s dream city: Chicago. Newberry grew up in Nebraska, but was born in Chicago, so she had family in the area.

She took a job at Crain's Chicago Business as an associate editor. But the stress of her new responsibilities and rushing home to feed her baby each day, all while adjusting to her new life in the city, began to take a physical toll on her.

“I think my body just said, ‘Uncle, enough.’” Newberry said. “And I just got this raging case of inflammation in my upper body.”

Newberry was diagnosed with repetitive strain injury (RSI), which is damage to muscles, tendons or nerves caused by repetitive motions and constant use. She wore hand braces and attended physical therapy, while also taking copious amounts of anti-inflammatories.

Now, with the pain of RSI on top of her stress, everything became too much.

Newberry quit her job at Crain’s and took a break from working. At that time, she had another child, and the family went back to Cincinnati. 

She did freelance work for some time and had stories published in Cincinnati Magazine and Quill Magazine. She also had a bi-weekly column in the Cincinnati Enquirer titled “Married with Children.”

In 1997, Newberry started teaching at Miami University. Over her 25 years at the university, she taught more than 2,000 students in 90 course sections and held a number of positions, including director of the journalism program from 2017-2022.

She developed courses that focused on topics like investigative reporting, Freedom Summer and the Dayton Peace Accords. She was the founding director of the NYC Media travel class and Media Matters, a high school recruiting program. Newberry also organized numerous special events.

Newberry enjoyed teaching and interacting with her colleagues, who also cared about journalism. She felt the position was appropriate for where she was in life.

“I really prize that Miami was so flexible that I could come and teach and leave when I needed to and finish my work when I could,” Newberry said.

Another benefit of Newberry’s time at Miami was being able to provide two of her three children with tuition-free education. Those children, Arthur and Beatrice Newberry, were involved at The Miami Student, the campus newspaper, as a cartoonist and business manager, respectively.

Newberry was president of Miami’s SPJ chapter, but her involvement with the organization doesn’t stop there. In college, she was president of her student chapter, and remained involved with SPJ in every newsroom she’s been in. She has been on the National SPJ Foundation Board and served as the national president from 2019-2020.

Newberry was already a part of Miami’s faculty when James Tobin, professor of journalism, started at the university. He came on a visiting professorship in 2006, and when he applied for a tenure job, Newberry was on the committee that hired him.

Tobin worked closely with Newberry over the last 10 years of her time at Miami, especially when Tobin became advisor to The Miami Student. She read articles from the newspaper and often gave her input.

The two talked a lot about students and student media. Newberry kept herself involved with student media, as an advisor to the Miami Quarterly, and she worked for the Committee on Student Media Organizations.

Tobin said Newberry always believed in the crucial role of journalism, and her faith in the profession made her a successful professor.

“It's like you're going to journalism church when you were in Patti’s class, because you couldn't help but be sort of swept along in her enthusiasm for the field,” Tobin said.

Tobin said many of his fellow professors preferred teaching their advanced writing courses over their introductory ones, such as JRN 1o2, which teaches the basics of the writing style. But Newberry dove into her section and never complained.

“I know she did a good job with the course, and again, was kind of an inspiration to me in terms of what my attitude about the course should be,” Tobin said.

Post-COVID, Newberry began to wonder if Miami was where she’d ultimately retire. She wanted to know if it was possible to go back to her first love: journalism.

In late 2021, Newberry reached out to the Enquirer and asked if they would consider having her back in the newsroom. Her offer was quickly accepted, and she started there the following year.

She’s been working as a Quality of Life Enterprise reporter, and her stories often rely heavily on public documents and records. 

Newberry was awarded “Reporter of the Year” by SPJ for her work on six articles, ranging from topics such as Cincinnati swim clubs to a feature on Billy Wagner, the patriarch of a family accused of murder in Pike County, Ohio.

“I liked how she not only presented great in-depth coverage, but also interesting factoids to go with it,” wrote one SPJ judge. “She really got to the heart of the story from all angles.”

Her editor at the Enquirer, Carl Weiser, entered her for the award, and Newberry said this is the most significant SPJ award she has won.

“It's really [the] cherry on top of the cake,” Newberry said. “The cake is getting to go back into journalism, and to get an award is just a super nice recognition that your peers think what you did was good enough to be recognized.”

Weiser oversees reporters covering government, politics and business, including Newberry. He said Newberry has been a “godsend” to the newsroom.

She finds many of her story ideas herself, and her final drafts are easy to edit. She’s willing to jump on breaking news stories and write about anything that is important to the Enquirer’s audience. She's also willing to step into a leadership role when Weiser is out of the newsroom for some time.

“We’re very lucky to have someone that experienced, professional, someone who sort of dealt with it all, so doesn't get phased by anything, and can help the younger reporters,” Weiser said, “and can also still learn ... I appreciate that.”

Weiser said Enquirer readers spend a lot of time with Newberry’s stories, typically about five minutes.

Although Newberry identifies heavily as a journalist, there’s much more to the writer. She enjoys walking, reading and theater, for instance. She’s an active member of Nativity Catholic Church and is a co-owner of a coffee roastery in Paris, Kentucky, called CaffeMarco, a business initially started by her brother-in-law and slowly being taken over by her son.

With the advancement of technology, the industry of journalism has changed over the years. But Newberry said the fundamentals have remained the same.

Newberry has loved being back in the newsroom and feels like she’s back at the beginning of her career, where she's writing while still learning. 

“I always used to say during my Miami years, it was a pleasure and a privilege to be able to work at Miami University,” Newberry said. “And I say the same thing about being back in the newsroom. It's a pleasure and a privilege to record stories for our audience.”