Deborah Gump, a journalist with more than 20 years of newsroom experience, has joined CCJ as director of print/online. "Horace Greeley once said that journalism will kill you, but it will keep you alive while you're at it," Gump said. "I know a lot of journalists who'll agree with that quote." "CCJ's mission is to support the kind of journalism that keeps alive not just journalists but the societies they inform," Gump added. "CCJ has extraordinary resources to get that mission done - ­ and I'm not just talking about the incredibly talented staff I'm joining. We have more than 8,000 members from all branches of the profession who are also committed to the mission, and I'm looking forward to working with them as well."CCJ's Executive Director, Jeffrey Dvorkin added that "Deborah Gump is the perfect addition to CCJ's team. She brings a wealth of talent and experience to ensure that our print and online colleagues get the best possible critical thinking on how journalism can grow and thrive in this demanding environment."  Gump joins Wally Dean, director of broadcast/online, and Brett Mueller, manager of CCJ's Web programming, in leading CCJ's industry initiatives.After reporting and editing jobs at the Rochester (N.Y.) Times-Union, Gump worked for the San Jose Mercury News, the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, USA Today and the Marin (Calif.) Independent Journal. While she was news editor of the Marin IJ, the paper was a six-time winner of the California Newspaper Publisher Association’s best-newspaper award and twice won Gannett’s award for the best paper in its circulation category. In 1999, The Freedom Forum selected Gump for its doctorate program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she focused her research on the ethical implications of the language of journalism. Gump joined the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University as the Knight professor of editing and director of the Knight Ohio Program for Editing and Editing Education, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.  Gump works with the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund internship program and the Chips Quinn Scholars program, as well as other organizations that work to foster new journalists and train veterans. She is a recipient of a Knight Fellowship for Copy Editors, a founding member of the American Copy Editors Society and a member the Society of Professional Journalists and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. CCJ, now in its tenth year, is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism, deepening the resources of each institution to provide professional development and strategic consultation to news organizations nationwide. CCJ's Traveling Curriculum has visited more than 120 newsrooms to help print, broadcast and online journalists develop a pattern of critical thinking and improve their skills. [top]