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A gem is lost, who do you look up to?

    This morning, I received an e-mail from the Los Angeles SPJ chapter alerting its members to the death of Hal Fishman:

"We are deeply saddened by the death of long-time KTLA anchor Hal Fishman. Hal was an icon in Los Angeles news, and his depth of knowledge and presence is unparalleled.

We extend our deepest condolences to his family and colleagues at KTLA. News in Los Angeles has lost an important, irreplaceable voice."

This indeed is a terrible loss to the journalism community. Hal has inspired many journalists. Who do you look up to? Who inspires you?


Published Tuesday, August 07, 2007 2:35 PM by SonyaSmith
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Comments

# re: A gem is lost, who do you look up to?

Tuesday, August 07, 2007 1:09 PM by GenePark
Great question. I honestly don't have a single journalist whom career I've followed to the point where I can say he or she is the singular more inspirational person in my life.

Rather, I get inspired by the work produced by these people. I recently judged an SPJ contest for Ohio papers, and most of the work submitted was jawdropping! Not only good reporting, but great storytelling.

It's always nice to read Pulitzer winners after the awards too. It's an annual reminder of what makes our craft so great.

# re: A gem is lost, who do you look up to?

Wednesday, August 08, 2007 4:09 PM by Dale Denwalt II
I was greatly moved when Doug Marlette, a Pulitzer winning cartoonist for the Tulsa World, died a couple of weeks ago. Although I'm not a cartoonist, I always admired his work. The same goes for Molly Ivins, someone I held close to my heart because I am also a political columnist.

# re: A gem is lost, who do you look up to?

Saturday, August 25, 2007 6:05 PM by Alex
James Janega of the Chicago Tribune is an outstanding reporter.  I read his work any time I can.  I'm also a huge Ernie Pyle fan.
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