Key personalities in journalism

Key Personalities in Journalism

Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911). Pulitzer is perhaps best known for competing with Hearst during the 1920s. In his early years as a publisher, he was associated with "yellow journalism" - an era that celebrated reporting the most sensational and shocking stories possible.

However, Pulitzer soon pulled back from this type of coverage and is a key thinker and practitioner in the field of journalism because he redefined news in the early 1900s as "what people will talk about tomorrow."

This definition stays with the profession today. He was also instrumental in bringing news to the masses, specifically through penny press publications that were made for poor immigrants. He is remembered today through the Pulitzer Prize, one of the highest honors a journalist can receive.


Dorothy Day (1897-1980). Day is a keythinker in the field of journalism not only beacuse she was one of the first successful female publishers, but because she pioneered religious journalism. Her newspaper was called The Catholic Worker, and was meant to serve poor immigrants.

She was also a leader in the reform or activist journalism movement, as her paper constantly called for pacifism and social reform.


Otis Chandler (1927-2006). Chandler is not well-known outside of the discipline, but he is a undoubtedly a key thinker for newspaper journalism specifically. Chandler became the editor of The L.A. Times in 1960, right around the time when television was threatening newspapers' existence.

Chandler came up with an idea to combat this that has probably helped newspapers survive to this day. Since television can break news faster, he argued, newspapers should be responsible for reporting the "second story," the analysis that comes after the major event has occurred.

He had his editors reorganize the newsroom and had writers do more background reporting.


William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). The son of a U.S. senator, William Randolph Hearst was a rich kid in his early 20s when he inherited control of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper from his father, mining tycoon George Hearst, in 1887.

Hearst went on to build a publishing empire that included newspapers, magazines, news services, radio stations and film studios. He was an unabashed practitioner of "yellow journalism," and his enthusiasm for sensationalism and his autocratic rule were legendary; he is often accused of nudging the U.S. into the Spanish-American war of 1898, just to sell more newspapers.

Beginning in the 1920s, Hearst had a mansion built in central California, called San Simeon but also known as Hearst Castle.

He was famously involved in an affair with actress Marion Davies, as well as a public feud with Orson Welles over the film Citizen Kane (1941), which was a thinly-veiled criticism of Hearst.

Adolph Ochs (1858-1935). The son of Jewish immigrants from Germany, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 12th March, 1858. He worked as a compositor on the Louisville Courier-Journal before buying a controlling interest in the Chattanooga Times in July, 1878. This became one of the most successful newspapers in the South and by 1892 was making a profit of $25,000 a year from the venture.

Ochs purchased the New York Times in 1896. It was no longer the force it was and now had the smallest circulation of the city's eight morning daily newspapers. Ochs announced to his readers that: "It will be my earnest aim that the New York Times give the news, all the news, in concise and attractive form".

Ochs also cut the price of the New York Times from three cents to one cent, and attracted readers from the tabloid press. However, he made it clear he had no intention of competing with the unscrupulous newspapers by declaring on his front-page: "All the News That's Fit to Print". The strategy was successful and circulation jumped from 25,000 in 1898 to 100,000 in 1901.

The newspaper continued to prosper under Ochs control and by 1921 circulation had reached 330,000 during the week and 500,000 on Sunday. Adolph Ochs died on 8th April, 1935.

Horace Greeley (1811-1872). His success in political journalism cemented Greeley's friendship with Whig leaders in New York state, and with their encouragement he issued the first number of the New York Tribune on Apr. 10, 1841. He edited this paper for over 30 years; during much of that time it was the greatest single journalistic influence in the country.

From the first, Greeley's object was to provide for the poor a paper that was as cheap as those of his rivals but less sensational and more probing than the “penny press.” Therefore, sensational police news and objectionable medical advertising were eliminated from the Tribune.

Greeley's chief editorial assistant for 15 years after 1846 was Charles A. Dana. Beginning in 1849, George Ripley conducted for 30 years the first regular literary and book review department in a U.S. newspaper.

Other talented men joined Greeley's staff (he was the first editor to allow by-lines), but his own clear, timely, vigorous editorials were the feature that made the Tribune known throughout the nation.

Bennett, James Gordon

Bennett, James Gordon, (1841–1918). American newspaper proprietor, b. New York City; son of James Gordon Bennett. Educated mostly in France, he took over (1867) from his father the management of the New York Herald. In 1869–71 he financed Henry Stanley's expedition into Africa to find David Livingston, and from 1879 to 1881 he supported the ill-fated expedition of G. W. De Long to the arctic region.

In reporting international news the Herald scored repeated triumphs. After 1877, Bennett lived mostly in Paris, directing his newspapers by cable, and with John W. Mackay he organized (1883) the Commercial Cable Company to handle European dispatches.

He established London and Paris daily editions of the Herald; the Paris paper was an unprofitable, sincere attempt to promote international goodwill. Bennett was fond of sports, especially of yachting, and established the James Gordon Bennett cup as a trophy in international yacht races and similar cups for balloon and airplane races.