WASHINGTON (RNS) Deborah Howell, a pioneering newspaperwoman who played a key role in the acquisition of Religion News Service by Advance Publications, Inc., died suddenly Friday (Jan. 1) while on vacation in New Zealand.
Howell, 68, was vacationing with her husband, former University of Minnesota president C. Peter Magrath, when she was struck by a car while crossing a street.
“Deborah was a passionate advocate for religion journalism in general but for RNS in particular,” said RNS Editor Kevin Eckstrom. “We called her the RNS godmother for a reason, and her death leaves a Deborah-shaped hole in our hearts.”
RNS was purchased in 1994 from the Dallas-based United Methodist Reporter when Howell was editor and bureau chief for Newhouse News Service; RNS was housed at Newhouse News Service until the Washington bureau closed late last year but remains a subsidiary of Advance Publications.
Howell left Newhouse in 2005 to become ombudsman at The Washington Post. After her contract ended in 2008, she returned to act as an adviser in developing RNS’ business model.
“Deborah was the driving force and visionary behind the success of Religion News Service,” said David Shaw, business coordinator for RNS. “Her commitment to telling the religion story accurately is reflected throughout the service, and RNS will continue to bear her imprint for years to come.”
Observers from the Post’s Michelle Boorstein to blogger Jeff Jarvis recalled Howell’s intense defense of religion journalism.
“Deborah was a feisty, wise voice in my view, because she knew it’s impossible to understand our world without a good grasp of its religious and spiritual components,” Boorstein wrote in the Post’s “Under God” blog.
Recalling her leadership of Newhouse News Service, Jarvis said on his “BuzzMachine” blog: “…what I remember most about that time was her tireless, quixotic efforts to find a business model for the Religion News Service, which the company owned. Deborah fought for and protected this poor child the way she did all her journalists. That’s why they were loyal to her.”
Howell, a Texas native and the daughter of journalists, was city editor of the Minneapolis Star at a time when men tended to run most big-city newsrooms. She went on to lead both the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Newhouse News Service when they garnered Pulitzer Prizes.
