Follies co-chair Dorothy Bowles gives Daniel cartoons to John M. Jones Jr., Alex S. Jones and Gregg K. Jones
The Front Page Follies scholarships in 2009 honor John Jr., Gregg, and Alex Jones of Jones Media Inc.
The brothers are members of a multi-generation East Tennessee newspaper family, and each has gained prominence as a leader in state, regional and national media and civic organizations. Jones Media Inc. operates print and online newspapers and magazines in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.
“Anyone who has any familiarity with Tennessee journalism knows of the contribution of the Jones brothers. They set the standard, not only for excellence in the profession, but for unflagging support of the newspaper business throughout the region,” said Jack McElroy, editor of the New Sentinel and a Follies honoree in 2008. “They also stand as a model of how media organizations must commit themselves to service to their communities. No finer honorees could be found in East Tennessee — or far beyond.”
Tax-deductible tickets are $100 each or $1,000 for a table of 10. Tables reserved and paid for by June 26 will receive a 10 percent discount. For information about ticket purchases, see http://frontpagefollies.com/.
David Lauver of Write Angle Communications will lead the script writing team again this year, and Carol Zinavage will direct the cast.
“The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists is proud to join groups like the Pulitzer Prize Board, Tennessee Press Association, Associated Press Managing Editors, and Harvard University in recognizing the Jones brothers’ contributions to journalism,” Dorothy Bowles, former ETSPJ president and co-chair of this year’s Follies, said.
John M. Jones Jr.
John M. Jones Jr. is the editor of the Greeneville Sun, where he has worked full time since 1968 except for an extended leave of absence as director of communications with Campus Crusade for Christ International. John has held a variety of leadership roles in the Tennessee Press Association, serving as president in 1998-1999. He continues to be an active member of the TPA Freedom of Information and Press Institute committees.
John Jones Jr. is also a member and former chairman of the Editorial Committee of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and a past president of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. John has received recognition for investigative reporting and public service journalism, including the prestigious Malcolm Law Award from the Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors. John has served in leadership roles in his church, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Junior Achievement, YMCA, Boy Scouts and United Way. John is a graduate of Princeton University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Gregg K. Jones
Gregg K. Jones is co-publisher, The Greeneville Sun and president and CEO of Jones Media Inc. In addition to supervising the operations of his family’s media interests, Gregg is very active in state, regional and national media organizations. Jones is a past president of the Tennessee Press Association and is also a past president, director and committee chairman of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association. Jones is past chairman of the Newspaper Association of America, the largest newspaper association in the United States. He served nine years on the board of the Associated Press.
Gregg Jones has served as past president of the East Tennessee Foundation, a director of the Greene County Partnership, a director of the Open Spaces Conservancy in Northeast Tennessee, a member of the executive board of the Sequoyah Council, Boy Scouts of America and president of Morgan Square Inc. Jones currently serves as a board member of The Regional Alliance for Economic Development. Gregg is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College.
Alex Jones
After a lengthy career in journalism, Alex Jones is now the director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. He covered the press for The New York Times from 1983-92 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1987. In 1991, he co-authored with his wife, journalist Susan E. Tifft, The Patriarch: The Rise and Fall of the Bingham Dynasty. In 1992, he left the Times to work on The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind the New York Times (also co-authored with Tifft), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award.
Alex Jones has been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, a host of National Public Radio’s On the Media, and host and Executive Editor of PBS’s Media Matters. He is on the boards of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, International Center for Journalists, the Signa Delta Chi Foundation, Harvard Magazine, Nieman Foundation, Black Mountain Institute, the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet and other professional organizations. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University.
