Mike Fancher's Page

The Reynolds Journalism Institute invited its 2008-2009 fellows to end their time on campus with brief remarks. The following post is from my presentation:

Walter Williams couldn’t have envisioned the information world in which we live today. But his belief that “the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service” is timeless.

Williams founded the Missouri School of Journalism in 1908 and wrote “The Journalist’s Creed” in 1914. It was a time of reform in journalism. The d… Continue

Linda Thomas, who writes the "News Chick" blog for seattlepi.com, has graciously included The Journalist's Creed project in a post about the future of journalism.
Thomas makes an arresting observation about journalism: "As a profession, journalism isn't as old as you might think. Walter Williams founded the world's first journalism school in 1908 at the Uni… Continue

Walter Williams would have been crystal clear in repudiating the Los Angeles Times for running a front page advertisement intended to look like a news story. The following is from a speech he gave October 22, 1919, to the Associated Advertising Clubs of Iowa*:

“A newspaper cannot be independent in the opinion of the public if it carries advertising disguised as editorial comment or news. It is a species of dishonesty—no less because it is sometimes practiced—for a newspaper to express for pay o… Continue