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 Ray
Steele Jr., publisher and president of The Fresno Bee, is the winner of
the Jim Tucker Media Service Award presented by the Mass Communication
and Journalism Department at California State University, Fresno for his
outstanding accomplishments in the newspaper industry.
The award, established in 2004 by the department in honor of long-time
professor Jim Tucker, was announced and presented by Tucker at the
department’s graduation convocation this morning in the John Wright
Theatre on campus.
The Tucker Award is presented annually to a journalist in the San
Joaquin Valley who has performed with distinction over a number of years.
“Ray is committed to journalism excellence, as he has shown throughout
his career,” said Tucker. “His vast and impressive accomplishments are
something to celebrate, and that is what this award is all about.”
Steele started with The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) in 1967 as a
reporter for The Fresno Bee and was named to his current position in
July 2001. He has spent his entire career with the company in various
capacities at the Fresno newspaper, The Sacramento Bee and as an
executive with corporate headquarters.
Steele grew up in the Fowler area and received a bachelor of arts degree
from Fresno State in 1968. He received the university’s Top Dog Award in
2005 as the outstanding alumnus of the College of Arts and Humanities.
While at Fresno State, he was twice elected editor of the campus
newspaper, The Daily Collegian. While editor, the campus newspaper
advocated reforms in student government, the Selective Service draft
deferment requirements and how final exams were administered.
Steele worked at the Fowler Ensign and for the Associated Press bureau
in Fresno before starting with The Fresno Bee while still in college. He
was promoted into editing positions and was city editor when he was
promoted in 1982 to administrative director of The Sacramento Bee, and
later publisher of its community publications.
He returned to The Fresno Bee in 1986 as general manager, responsible
for all business operations. He went to the corporate headquarters in
Sacramento in 1993 where he was director of operations and then director
of corporate services. He was named publisher and president of The
Fresno Bee in 2001.
Steele serves on the board of directors of the Fresno Business Council,
the Economic Development Corporation of Fresno County and the Greater
Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce. He also is on the Board of Governors of
the California State University, Fresno, Foundation. He is a lifetime
member of the Fresno State Alumni Association.
Steele and his wife, Mary Lou, have two grown daughters who live in
Fresno, four grandsons and a granddaughter.
Previous Tucker Award winners include Dan Taylor, ABC30 sports director
and anchor, Jim Boren, Fresno Bee editorial page editor, and Stefani
Booroojian, a KSEE-24 news anchor.
Tucker retired in 2007 after completing 39 years as a journalism
professor at Fresno State. He was department chair for 12 of those
years. Tucker came to Fresno State in 1968 after serving on the
journalism faculty at the University of Iowa. His career has been a
mixture of professional journalism and journalism education.
He started his journalism career as a newspaper reporter and copy editor
for The Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette. For the past 17 years, he has been
the producer and moderator of “Valley Press,” a weekly news-interview
program on Valley Public Television in Fresno – roles he’ll continue
serving even upon retirement from the university.
For more information: 559.278.2087.
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