Tom Linthicum

Tom Linthicum has extensive experience in the newspaper industry, working as a reporter at The Atlanta Constitution from 1970 through 1973 and as a reporter, editor and business executive at The Baltimore Sun from 1974 until August 2001. As The Sun’s metropolitan editor for eight years, he began training programs for the local staff and named the newspaper’s first writing coach. He later managed the newsroom budget and directed all recruiting, hiring and training. Mr. Linthicum left the newsroom in December, 1997, to become assistant to the publisher, where he worked with The Sun’s senior executives on a variety of projects and chaired the committee overseeing installation of the newspaper’s first pagination system. Mr. Linthicum was named Director of Organization Development in July, 1999, and assumed responsibility for all training, recruiting, hiring and diversity programs for The Sun’s 1,700 employees. He launched a development program for all employees, conducting numerous workshops on topics including leadership development, coaching, priority and time management, goal setting and conflict resolution. He also designed training programs to support new business initiatives, and he created and taught a performance management course for newsroom managers. Mr. Linthicum left The Sun two years later and founded TDL Group, Inc., a firm specializing in training, development and management consultation in the newspaper industry. He is a seminar associate and discussion leader for the American Press Institute, teaches journalism at the University of Maryland, lectures regularly at the International Center for Journalists and has been a visiting faculty member at the Poynter Institute.