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{{Short description|American journalist, attorney and businessman (born 1938)}}
{{for|the hockey player|Mike Gartner}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
'''Michael Gartner''' (born October 25, 1938, in [[Des Moines, Iowa]]) is an American journalist, attorney and businessman. He was president of the [[Board of Regents, State of Iowa|Iowa Board of Regents]].

==Biography==
A graduate of [[Carleton College]] and the [[New York University School of Law]], Gartner was a member of the New York and Iowa bars as of 1997.<ref name="The Pulitzer Prizes u724">{{cite web | title=Michael Gartner of The Daily Tribune, Ames, Iowa| website=The Pulitzer Prizes | url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/michael-gartner | access-date=18 December 2023}}</ref> His career in journalism began in the sports department of the ''[[Des Moines Register]]'' at the age of 15. After completing his undergraduate degree, he joined the staff of ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' (1960–1974), ultimately serving as page one editor. He then served as editor and president of the ''Des Moines Register'' (1974–1985), general news executive of the [[Gannett]] Company and ''[[USA Today]]'' (1985–1986), editor of the Louisville ''[[Courier-Journal]]'' (1986–1987) and president of [[NBC News]] (1988–1993). He was president of the [[American Society of Newspaper Editors]] from 1988 to 1993.<ref>Iowa Center for the Book https://www.iowacenterforthebook.org/iat/gartner</ref>

As chair and editor of ''[[Ames Tribune|The Daily Tribune]]'' in [[Ames, Iowa]] from 1993 to 1999 (which he also co-owned from 1986 to 1999), Gartner won the 1997 [[Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing]] for a body of work about community issues. He previously served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board from 1983 to 1992. He has also been a columnist for the [[Op-Ed]] pages of ''The Wall Street Journal'' and of ''USA Today.''

Gartner chaired the Vision Iowa fund, which provided communities money to fund projects such as the [[Iowa Events Center]] in Des Moines, from 2000 to 2005. In May 2005, Iowa Gov. [[Tom Vilsack]] named him president of the [[Iowa Board of Regents]], which oversees the state's three public universities (the [[University of Iowa]], [[Iowa State University]], and the [[University of Northern Iowa]]). He served until December 2007.<ref name="2007-12-03-GlGaz">{{cite news |title=Gartner says he'll step down from Board of Regents |publisher=[[Globe Gazette|Mason City Globe Gazette]] |date=December 3, 2007 |url=https://globegazette.com/news/gartner-says-he-ll-step-down-from-board-of-regents/article_bb25f5c0-3774-5150-a768-cfa068db4c49.html |access-date=2021-01-20}}</ref> Gartner is chairman of Raccoon Baseball, Inc., which owned the [[Iowa Cubs]] [[baseball]] team from 1999 to 2021, and formerly was co-owner of Big Green Umbrella. When the Iowa Cubs were sold to [[Endeavor (company)|Endeavor]] he and the other owners shared the proceeds with their full-time staff.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Levenson|first=Michael|date=2022-01-02|title=Team Owner Surprises Workers With 'Life-Changing Gesture' After Sale|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/02/us/iowa-cubs-employee-bonus-checks.html|access-date=2022-01-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Dateline controversy==
He resigned from NBC in 1993 as a result of controversy over the show ''[[Dateline NBC]]''. The show reported on [[Dateline NBC#General Motors vs. NBC|dangers of GM pickup trucks]], but did not state that it had actually staged the explosion of a truck for broadcast.

Years later Gartner said, "It happened on my watch. I took responsibility for it. I did what I thought you ought to do when you make a mistake. You say 'we made a mistake' and apologize to the viewers." (''Iowa City Press-Citizen'', April 23, 2005.)

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[Journalism scandals]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312053639/http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/journalists/bios/gartner.html Michael Gartner biography]
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=openmind_ep524|description="The Open Mind – A Man for All Journalistic Seasons"}}
* {{C-SPAN|1249}}

{{Presidents of NBC News}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gartner, Michael}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Writers from Des Moines, Iowa]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners]]
[[Category:Carleton College alumni]]
[[Category:NBCUniversal people]]
[[Category:NBC executives]]
[[Category:Presidents of NBC News]]
[[Category:New York University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Courier Journal people]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball executives]]