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People

By Roy Peter Clark

1. Edward R. Murrow -- Great on the radio, greater on television, embodied the potential of television news.
2. George Orwell-- The British author most respected by American journalists for both his fiction and nonfiction.
3. Ernie Pyle -- Balladeer of the common soldier, killed in battle.
4. Hazel Brannon Smith -- The Mississippi editor who faced firebombs and won a Pulitzer for her support of racial justice.
5. William F. Buckley Jr. -- One of America's best public intellectuals, a master of multiple media: books, magazine, newspaper columns, television talk.
6. Kaylee Woodstein -- This made-up name comprises the great Watergate team of the Washington Post: Kay Graham, Ben Bradlee, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein.
7. Robert and Nancy Maynard -- The first family of newspaper diversity, they helped change the face of journalism through The Oakland Tribune and the Maynard Institute.
8. Robert Capa -- Lesser known than Ernie Pyle, but perhaps more influential as a photojournalist capturing images of war around the world. Also killed in battle.
9. I.F. Stone and Seymour Hersh: Dogged investigative reporters writing in the same liberal tradition, working exhaustively to expose government secrets.
10. Eugene Roberts -- His tenure as editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer may have been the greatest editing performance of all time. A quirky visionary who created a place where excellence became routine.
11. Ralph McGill, Gene Patterson and Cynthia Tucker -- Each won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, challenging readers to re-think their attitudes on race.
12. Ann Landers and Dear Abby -- Before feminism gave us the likes of Anna Quindlen, Ellen Goodman and Maureen Dowd, the twin sisters helped sell newspapers by showing a private world that need to be made more public.
13. Charles Schulz -- A true genius, whose funny and brainy work made Peanuts an American icon and helped sell millions upon millions of newspapers.
14. George Seldes -- Perhaps the least known journalist on the list, he zigged when mainstream journalism zagged. Covered stories in his books and newsletter that the newspapers wouldn't touch. Lived to be 105. Wrote his 21st book at age 97.
15. Ida B. Wells -- Used the power of her presence and her writing to advocate for racial justice and women's rights.
16. Anne Hull -- A member of Poynters Board of Trustees, Hull is arguably the greatest feature writer in newspaper history. Her work at the St. Petersburg Times, and now The Washington Post, combines in-depth reporting and powerful storytelling. Her work on the failures of Walter Reed hospital may be her best.
17. W.C. Heinz -- For decades, sportswriters have revered the work of the recently deceased author for the depth of reporting and its narrative power.
18. Red Smith -- For a half century, he served America as one of its most elegant and versatile sportswriters. Known for his work covering baseball, he was perhaps greater on prizefighting and horse racing, and was a helluva outdoors writer.
19. Walter Cronkite -- Look up the word "avuncular" and find his picture. Perhaps the last great modernist journalist, whose presence on our TV screens gave reassurance even as his voice rang with credibility and authority.
20. W.E.B. DuBois -- Perhaps the most outstanding African-American scholar and journalist of the 20th century. His essays challenging Booker T. Washington and defining the black experience in America retain their power and influence.
21. M.F.K Fisher -- A better writer than Hemingway, she is too often dismissed as a "food writer," when her work is really about culture, politics, war, the economy and social class.

Full post as published by Writing Tools on March 12, 2008 (boomark / email).