Post's Graham Set the Standard |
| Katharine Graham, 84, former publisher of
The Washington Post, died July 17 in Boise, ID, after suffering injuries in a fall a few
days earlier while at a conference for media executives. Graham, who was chairman of The Post executive committee and the 2001 inductee into the MDDC Newspaper Hall of Fame, is best remembered for taking chances and making a stand with the publication of the Pentagon Papers and the pursuit of the Watergate story. She took over The Post in 1963 after the death of her husband, Philip L. Graham. She served as publisher from 1969 to 1979 and was chairman of the board for The Washington Post Co. from 1973 to 1993. As chairman of the company for two decades, Graham built the paper her father had purchased at a bankruptcy auction into a media empire by the time she turned it over to her son, Donald in 1991. Graham also won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for her biography, "Personal History." She is remembered by members of the MDDC Executive Committee for her contributions to journalism. "There is no student of journalism, not any
veteran, who hasn’t read of her accomplishments that opened doors and set high
standards for all of us in this business." "We all wish we could run our news organizations the
way she ran hers – with honesty, compassion, a sense of caring for all her employees,
and with such style and grace." "Mrs. Graham’s courage inspired many young
journalists just like me to make a career of the newspaper business. Her work changed
American history and many young lives." "As a reporter in the mid-1970s, you appreciated
the courage that The Post reporters and editors had pursuing Watergate. Their careers were
on the line. But Katharine Graham was the gutsy one. She placed her newspaper on the line
for that story. That’s courage. I wonder how many publishers today would do
that?" "She had strong values and wasn’t afraid to make
the tough decisions. She was a wonderful role model for women everywhere." |
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