As a rookie reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch five decades ago, I sat directly in front of Ted Link, a Post-Dispatch legend. Link never said a word to me. I never said a word to Link. But I looked up to him as one of those crusty veterans who had made the Post-Dispatch great. One thing about Link unnerved me. Each morning, he walked to his desk, opened the … [Read more...] about ‘Front Page’ to Ferguson: A memoir of half a century of St. Louis journalism
St. Louis
Fifty years of journalism in St. Louis – a timeline
1970 - In the year in which the Journalism Review was founded, here’s a snapshot of the area’s media scene: St. Louis has two daily newspapers: the morning Globe-Democrat, owned by S.I. Newhouse, and the evening Post-Dispatch, owned by Pulitzer Co. They battle each other for scoops, advertisers and public influence. Each has hundreds of thousands of readers. (Under a 1961 … [Read more...] about Fifty years of journalism in St. Louis – a timeline
The broken heart of America: A response to Walter Johnson
During a webinar about his book sponsored by Washington University Oct. 1, Walter Johnson, the Harvard professor who wrote “Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States, ” was asked by William Freivogel, publisher of the Gateway Journalism Review, to comment on the review GJR has published about his book in September. Johnson’s response was … [Read more...] about The broken heart of America: A response to Walter Johnson
The broken heart of America: A review and fact-check
In “The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States,” Harvard University professor Walter Johnson has written a history of St. Louis that could not come at a more sensitive moment. Between its author’s prestigious pedigree and its exquisite timing, the book is winning a large audience, including many well-intentioned St. Louisans eager to … [Read more...] about The broken heart of America: A review and fact-check
The 1857 Project: Extracting the poison of racism from America’s soul
The spring 2020 print issue on the history of slavery, segregation, and racism in our region was produced with the help and financial support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The soul of America is its promise of ever-expanding freedom, equality and opportunity. The parodox of America is that over four centuries our Founders and our leaders reneged on this … [Read more...] about The 1857 Project: Extracting the poison of racism from America’s soul