The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing was formed in 1964 to promote superior coverage of business and economic events and issues. Originally called the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, SABEW changed its name in 2018 as part of a broader effort to embrace a global focus on business journalism.
Less than a half century ago the very idea that business news would ever emerge from behind the classified advertisement section would have been preposterous. But in the late 1950s, business news began to make the climb from obscurity.
The movement began when the late R.K.T. (Kit) Larson, former associate editor of the Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star in Norfolk, Va., began talking with Charles C. Abbott of the University of Virginia about “the generally poor reporting of business news in the country’s press.”
Larson organized several small seminars, and in 1961 put together a three-day session that attracted 60 business editors and writers. The success of that seminar resulted in another in 1963.
A permanent organization took shape in 1964 when SABEW held its first meeting in New York City. In 1984, the Society took a major step by voting to place its offices at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In 2009, the Board of Governors voted to move the Society’s headquarters to Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix, where it was established in September of that year.
Today, SABEW’s 2,500 members are from North America and several countries. In 1990, SABEW began offering institutional memberships, and now entire business staffs at major newspapers, business journals, business weeklies, wire services, online publications and broadcast outlets are members.
As part of its educational mission, SABEW sponsors an annual convention and specialized reporting conference. It also confers business journalism awards for excellence in business journalism, as well as honors individuals who have made long-standing contributions to business journalism.
In an era when business news routinely tops the front pages, leads the network news and results in the creation of new magazines, it seems hard to imagine a time when things were different. To make sure that business journalism keeps its new-found-popularity, SABEW has worked closely with the University of Missouri to raise $1.1 million to endow a chair for business journalism education.
An * following a president’s name indicates the person is deceased.
2023 SABEW President: Desiree Hanford
2022 SABEW President: Glenn Hall
2021 SABEW President: Caleb Silver
2020 SABEW President: Kimberly Quillen
2019 SABEW President: Bryan Borzykowski
2017-2019 SABEW President: Mark Hamrick
2016 SABEW President: Cory Schouten
2015 SABEW President: Joanna Ossinger
2014 SABEW President: Marty Wolk
2013 SABEW President: Kevin G. Hall
2012 SABEW President: Jill Jorden Spitz
2011 SABEW President: Kevin Noblet
2010 SABEW President: Rob Reuteman
2009 SABEW President: Greg McCune
2008 SABEW President: Bernie Kohn
2007 SABEW President: Gail DeGeorge
2006 SABEW President: Dave Kansas
2005 SABEW President: Jonathan Lansner
2004 SABEW President: Rex Seline
2003 SABEW President: Kathy Kristof
2002 SABEW President: Chuck Jaffe
2001 SABEW President: Bill Barnhart*
2000 SABEW President: Barney Calame
1999 SABEW President: Charley Blaine
1998 SABEW President: Susan Wells
1997 SABEW President: Henry Dubroff
1996 and 1976 SABEW President: Myron Kandel
1995 SABEW President: Jodi Schneider
1994 SABEW President: Gary Klott*
1993 SABEW President: James M. Kennedy
1992 SABEW President: Randall D. Smith
1991 SABEW President: Sandra J. Duerr
1990 SABEW President: Sue Thomson
1989 SABEW President: Larry Werner
1988 SABEW President: Philip Moeller
1987 SABEW President: Cheryl Hall
1986 SABEW President: Fred Monk
1985 SABEW President: Mike Millican
1984 SABEW President: James J. Mitchell*
1983 SABEW President: David L. Beal
1982 SABEW President: John Rumsey
1981 SABEW President: Jerry Heaster*
1980 SABEW President: Margaret Daly*
1979 SABEW President: Ray Kenney*
1978 SABEW President: Robert Corya
1977 SABEW President: Larry Birger*
1976 and 1996 SABEW President: Myron Kandel
1975 SABEW President: Dick Griffin*
1974 and 1973 SABEW President: Hobart Rowen*
1972 SABEW President: David Smith
1971 SABEW President: Al Altwegg*
1970 SABEW President: John D. Henry*
1969 SABEW President: William A. Doyle*
1968 SABEW President: Ross M. Dick*
1967 SABEW President:Robert E. Nichols*
1966 SABEW President: Ben Schifman*
1965 and 1964 SABEW President: J.A. Livingston*
