Trib Total Media trustee Rick Monti honored with Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s Benjamin Franklin Award

The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association is recognizing veteran journalist Rick Monti, who has held various roles with Trib Total Media and sits on its board of trustees, with its 2023 Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence.

“He just means the world to the media industry in Western Pennsylvania,” said Bill Cotter, president of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. “He’s just a great person, and he cares. I think that’s very well known in the industry.”

The award honors “individuals who have performed an outstanding service to his/her newspaper, to the news media industry in general, to his/her local community or to the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association that reflected positively on the news media industry in Pennsylvania,” according to the Harrisburg-based news association.

Monti, a longtime Harrison resident who currently serves as a consultant for Trib Total Media, was selected as this year’s winner after more than four decades in the industry.

“I think you would be hard-pressed to find a journalist that’s come through Western Pennsylvania that hasn’t been touched by Rick,” Trib Total Media President and CEO Jennifer Bertetto said, adding he is involved in the Trib’s scholarships programs and day-to-day work.

She praised Monti for his understanding of the industry and his passion for local journalism. Monti is involved with the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania and the Bob Fryer Memorial Scholarship, which helps college students pursuing journalism careers.

“He is dogged in his love for the industry and the communities that we serve,” said Bertetto, who won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence in 2021. “When you have someone like Rick who truly understands the craft of journalism and the importance of it in our communities, it helps us keep a focus in the boardroom and in the newsroom of what we need to be doing.”

Monti said he’s loved the journalism industry since he joined it in 1972.

“I’ve always loved this business,” he said. “It’s not about having your name on a story. It’s about helping people that need help.”

Monti said he was grateful to have worked with others who shared his dedication to local journalism. He reflected on his tenure with Trib Total Media, as well as a six-month stint with the startup team for USA Today. Over his tenure in the news media industry, Monti said, he’s seen major changes, including the shift to new technologies like computers in the newsroom and laptops that allow reporters to file stories from the field.

But the heart of the industry, he said, hasn’t changed.

“The bottom line is go out and write a story that you hope will change some things,” he said.

Monti recalled working lengthy hours, knocking on people’s doors for stories and getting called into the newsroom unexpectedly when major stories were developing.

“If something happened and I was with my son, I would drag him to the office with me while I was handling whatever the breaking news was,” he said.

Monti said he didn’t expect to be recognized by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association — he just focuses on putting forth his best work every day.

“It’s certainly a big honor,” he said. “You get up and you do what you’ve got to do today, and you try to do it 110%.”

Though Monti often jokes that he is technically retired, he is a frequent presence in the newsroom and rarely takes a day off, Trib Executive Editor Luis Fabregas said.

“There’s nothing about the business that he doesn’t know or hasn’t been exposed to, something that gives him a unique vantage point,” said Fabregas, who was hired by Monti as a reporter in 1997. “The knowledge he shares with the new generation of managers and editors is invaluable.”

Monti has touched hundreds of journalists’ lives, Fabregas said.

“Rick’s dedication to upholding the values of journalism is unparalleled,” he said. “By devoting his life to journalism, he has earned the respect of his peers and is a role model for all journalists.”