Rick Shaw (journalist)

Rick Shaw (Richard F. Shaw — born Jan. 16, 1956) is a former newspaper photo editor and designer for several daily publications within the Untied States. Currently, he is director of Pictures of the Year International, the oldest and most prestigious photojournalism program in the world, and an educator in visual journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism

Rick Shaw
File:Shaw2010.jpg
Director Pictures of the Year International
University of Missouri School of Journalism Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute Columbia, Missouri

Director of Pictures of the Year International

POYi’s primary mission is to promote the work of photojournalists and foster professional development as a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Shaw oversees the program’s 69-year competition, coordinates worldwide exhibitions, cultivates the POYi Archive, and has launched new initiatives such as the Emerging Vision Incentive, the Multimedia Vision symposium, and the POYi Latin America contest. Shaw joined the University of Missouri in 2004 as an assistant professor in the photojournalism sequence, teaching photo editing and management and serving as the director of photography for The Missourian, the student-produced daily city newspaper.

Background & Education

Rick Shaw is a native of Oklahoma City, Ok, where he attended public school within the Putnam City School District and graduated from Putnam City West High School in 1974. His interest in photography began in high school as a photographer on the school's student newspaper, The Towne Cryer, and the yearbook, Patriot Profile. During his senior year, Shaw won first place as the state champion high school photographer in the Oklahoma Interscholastic Press Association annual competition. After graduating high school, he attended Central State University in Edmond, Ok (currently the University of Central Oklahoma), before transferring to the University of Missouri in 1976 to attend the School of Journalism. In 1978, he graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Photojournalism.

Rick Shaw is a resident of Columbia, Mo, with his wife, Carol, and two children, Russley (son) and Chaney (daughter). He holds a Master of Arts degree in Journalism, specializing in online visual journalism. His thesis research examined how Web-based news organizations’ visual character, or visual personality, affects audience perceptions of credibility.

Career

Shaw's prior newspaper career spans 27 years in visual editing and management. He began as a photojournalist and moved into photo editing, working for newspapers such as The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and The Sacramento Bee for 12 years. At The Bee, he served in a variety of roles including photo editor, assistant director of photography, and an assistant news editor. He was named director of photography and graphics at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, and in 2001 joined the Hartford Courant as its director of design and graphics.

He has been recognized with several design and picture editing awards, including “Picture Editor of the Year” in POYi and NPPA competitions. In 1992, Shaw was part of the editing team for The Sacramento Bee that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, responsible for both the photo editing and page design for the series, “The Sierra in Peril.” The Sacramento Bee and Hartford Courant both have won the Angus McDougall Overall Excellence in Editing Award.

As faculty for The Missourian, Shaw directed the student photo editing staff to two consecutive POYi photo editing portfolio awards, competing against professional newspapers nationwide — a Third Place Editing Portfolio during the 64th annual competition in 2007, and an Award of Excellence Editing Portfolio in 2006.

In 2006, the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute named Shaw director of POYi. He continues as an adjunct faculty member in the photojournalism sequence at the Missouri School of Journalism, teaching visual editing for online multimedia.

Awards

Pulitzer Prize — 1992 Gold Medal for Public Service. Photo editor, designer “The Sierra in Peril”
Silver Award — Society of News Design for Individual Design Portfolio in 1990
Silver Award — Society of News Design for Regional News Topic in 1989
Award of Excellence — Society of News Design for “Heroin Town” in 2003
Picture Editor of the Year — First place individual portfolio, Pictures of the Year (POY) competition in 1990
Picture Editor of the Year — First place, Picture Editing Quarterly Clip Contest, NPPA in 1990
Third Place — Editing Portfolio, Pictures of the Year (POY) competition in 2006
Award of Excellence — Editing Portfolio, Pictures of the Year (POY) competition in 2005
Third place — Editing Portfolio, Pictures of the Year (POY) competition in 1996
Second place — Editing Portfolio, Pictures of the Year (POY) competition in 1992
Third place — Editing Portfolio, Pictures of the Year (POY) competition in 1991
Award of Excellence — Editing Portfolio, Pictures of the Year (POY) competition in 1989