Robert Blade is a professor of journalism at Florida Community College at Jacksonville’s downtown campus and a former Florida Times-Union columnist.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I teach classes in basic newspaper reporting and writing, introduction to mass media, occasionally English comp and I am an advisor to The Campus Voice, our student newspaper.”
WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AS ADVISOR?
“I help with the administrative end, working closely with the editor and staff. I gather a mix of different stories and give advice on how stories should be played. The college allows me to give six scholarships to students who work on the paper.”
SOME BACKGROUND
“This is my seventh year at FCCJ. I worked as a newspaper reporter, editor and columnist for almost 20 years.” He spent 14 of those years at The Florida Times-Union.
WHY LEAVE THE TIMES-UNION?
“I don’t want to say. It was just something between me and the paper.”
EDUCATION
Rhodes College, a tiny school in Memphis, is where Blade earned a bachelor’s degree in English. In 1995, he went back to school — the University of Florida — to get a master’s degree in mass communications.
THE ROAD TO ABSOLUTION
“In college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My wife said, ‘You enjoy writing. Why don’t you try newspapers?’ So we moved to Boston and I got on with the Quincy Patriot-Ledger as a general assignment reporter for three years.”
LIMA BEANS
After Boston, Blade packed his bags for Lima, Ohio, where he wrote for The Lima News. In three years, he progressed from general assignment to beat reporter to working the desk and lastly, to weekend editor. “I moved onto the desk for a while, writing heads and laying out pages. I came to Jacksonville to work for the T-U in 1974 on the day [former President Richard] Nixon resigned.”
HOW DID YOU END UP TEACHING?
“I was working on the great American novel; I wrote two of them. One was pretty bad. The other I really liked but it’s hard to sell a book. I did some freelance work then met this guy, Doug Kerley. He’s a teacher at the [FCCJ] South Campus. He really liked his job. I never thought about teaching before. It just happened that FCCJ needed someone to teach journalism and help with the newsletter.”
SHAKING UP THE STATUS QUO
Under his watch, paid advertisements were allowed in the student newspaper. “From a business standpoint, we’ve done well with The Campus Voice. We established a journalism scholarship with the money this year: $15,500 went to the Foundation to endow a scholarship.”
WHY GO INTO JOURNALISM?
“Two reasons: for the active creation of images and telling good stories in a clear, entertaining way and for the power of writing. It can teach people, make them laugh, make them cry and expand their experiences.”
WHAT’S REWARDING ABOUT TEACHING?
“As a newspaper reporter, you’re one step removed from being involved with the person. In teaching, you’re with people the whole term and get to know them. You see somebody learn a skill and it’s great to see it happen.”
WHAT’S CHALLENGING ABOUT IT?
“Seeing somebody with talent who’s not developing. It’s a challenge to reach people where they are.”
DO YOU STILL WRITE?
“I’ll do a piece occasionally in the comment section of Folio Weekly or some freelance pieces. The last seven years I was with the T-U, I was a columnist. That’s the best because you get to spout off. I really enjoyed that. I miss having that voice and the ability to respond to what’s going on.”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR STUDENTS?
“Read. Ours is a very visual society, but in broadcast and print journalism, it’s all writing, putting words together in a vivid way. You have to have a natural affinity for words and you have to read a lot. It gives you a feel for the flow of words and the application of grammar.”
GETTING INVOLVED
Blade is involved in the San Marco Preservation Association, National Council of Teachers of English, Florida Community Press Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
BORN
Ft. Benning, Ga. “My dad was in the Army. When I was growing up he was a doctor in the public health service so we got transferred around a lot. We moved from Norfolk, Va. to New York City, up and down the East Coast, to Texas and a whole bunch of different places.”
PERSONAL
San Marco is home to Blade and his wife Anna. Their oldest son, Chris, died in 1996. They have three surviving children: Jessica, John and Alex, a Merchant Marine. Blade is an avid reader and cyclist. When he’s hungry, it’s Leo’s Italian Restaurant. At home, Blade tunes into “The West Wing” or his favorite foreign film, “Babette’s Feast.” Since he became a Floridian, he has taken up walks on the beach but has yet to see Disney World. “I like non-commercial, non-plastic sorts of things.”
— by Monica Chamness