July 17, 2006—On June 20, leaders of the graphic arts industry came together to honor an outstanding individual—Richard M. Smith, chairman, editor-in-chief, and CEO of Newsweek—with the 21st Annual Prism Award. More than 450 attendees, including management, publishers, artists, and students, gathered at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City to celebrate Mr. Smith's achievements.

The Prism Award, given by New York University's (NYU) School of Continuing and Professional Studies' graphic communications management and technology program, recognizes excellence in art, communication, leadership, graphic design, technological innovation, service, and freedom of expression.

Mr. Smith was introduced by J. Joel Quadracci, president and chief operating officer of Quad/Graphics. Mr. Quadracci noted that Mr. Smith had stayed true to the mission of covering the news all these years, allowing the voices of the writers to shine through at the same time. "He is loved and respected as a gifted administrator and leader," he said of the honoree.

An International Development
Mr. Smith joined Newsweek in 1970 for a four-week trial after completing his degree at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. He wrote his first cover story six weeks later, and in 1974 went on to become Newsweek International's Asia editor, based in Hong Kong. In 1977, he moved to New York City as managing editor of the international editions, and was named assistant managing editor of the domestic magazine in 1981.

He noted that he was delighted to be part of an event that supports NYU. "They are doing great work creating programs that support all of us," he said. He went on to look at the industry as a whole, saying that we are in a period of massive change.

"How we communicate with readers and how they communicate with us is changing," he said. "[But we] remain enormously optimistic" about the power of print.

"Every new revolution brings fear of erosion of the current business model, but this one has added opportunities to add revenue to support print," he added.

Our business, Mr. Smith continued, is not print, but in creating original content and telling original stories. Print is just one way of presenting, organizing, and packaging that content. The challenge is to continue earning the trust of the readers and end-users, no matter what medium we use to communicate with them, be it print, online, or a future technology, he said.

Community Service
In addition to Prism, the Distinguished Service Award was handed out at the luncheon. This year's honoree was Manuel de Torres, CEO of Metro Packaging and Imaging, and a co-chair of the Prism luncheon committee.

His company has experienced double-digit growth for the past four years, and he has helped raise more than $2 million in scholarships for the Prism program. "It has been fantastic [working with Prism]," according to Mr. de Torres.

"There is more satisfaction being involved in education and giving back than starting a company."