2/6/2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Two former Detroit Free Press journalists will join a former executive editor of The Detroit News and a longtime Associated Press writer and editor as the newest members of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.
Ben Burns, professor at Wayne State University and formerly of The Detroit News, will be inducted April 21 into the Hall of Fame, along with the late columnist Bob Talbert and editorial writer Barbara Stanton, both of the Detroit Free Press, and the late Charles Cain III of the Associated Press.
"The new inductees represent the best in Michigan daily newspaper journalism," said Stephen Lacy, chair of the Hall of Fame Committee and director of the MSU School of Journalism. "They exemplify the range of journalists - columnists, editors, wire service reporters and editorial writers - that Michigan newspaper readers depend on every day to deliver the news."
The Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame began induction ceremonies in 1985. The new inductees bring the number of Hall of Fame members to 102.
Information about the current members can be found at http://hof.jrn.msu.edu/
An induction banquet for the 2001 inductees will be held April 21 at the Kellogg Center on the MSU campus. To request reservations, call (517) 353-6430.
Ben Burns
Ben Burns' journalism career reveals his versatility as a journalist, manager and journalism educator. In all these roles, his goal has been excellence - a goal achieved more often than not.
Burns started his career in the early 1960s as a staffer and then editor of the Michigan State University student daily, The State News. Even then, he was a teacher. As former State News staffer James Wallington wrote, "I observed Ben take in young and inexperienced staffers and give them mature and sage direction. It is no surprise he eventually headed a journalism program at a major university."
As with many journalists, Burns worked at several newspapers in a variety of jobs. He worked with United Press International, the Lansing State Journal, Miami Herald, The Macomb Daily and The Detroit News. In his work as a reporter and editor, he set high ethical standards and mentored journalists who emulated those standards. Sue Burzynski, who started working with Burns when she was an intern, wrote: "He helped me get excited about journalism and he helped me stay excited about journalism. That may not seem extraordinary, but it is."
After almost 30 years as a journalist, Burns became director of the journalism program in the Wayne State University Department of Communication. In this position, he has continued the successful Journalism Institute for Minorities, which resulted from a partnership he formed between The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press while still executive editor of The Detroit News. While at Wayne State, he co-wrote "Michigan Media Law" with attorney Dawn Phillips Hertz. The book is considered a must-read for Michigan journalists.
Burns showed himself to be an exception to the old saw "jack of all trades, master of none." He was master of the many roles he has undertaken. Gene Roberts, former editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, said in his letter of support, "Quite simply, I think of him as one of the very finest journalists America produced in the last half of the 20th century."
Charles C. Cain III
For 36 years, Charles Cain chased the news and helped young journalists learn their craft at the Associated Press Detroit Bureau. In the wire service business with its "deadline every minute," Cain was a rock. As one colleague said, "He had the requisite sense of urgency about getting breaking news on the wire, but he also seemed to know that the bureau was no place for commotion. He was a calming influence on an often-hectic operation. He just never panicked."
A graduate of Brown University, Cain's first job was as a reporter for the Attleboro Sun in Massachusetts in 1936. Two years later he moved to the Newark Star-Ledger in New Jersey before starting his career with the Associated Press in Boston in 1941. His career with the Associated Press had a three-year interruption during World War II. He moved to Detroit in 1945 and that's where he stayed.
From 1945 until he retired in 1979, he worked as Michigan news editor, sports editor, auto writer and night and day editor in the Associated Press Detroit Bureau. During that time, he covered the attempted assassination of Walter and Victor Reuther, the 1967 Detroit riots and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. Cain received the 1951 Associated Press Page One Award for best wire service story. He died in 1988.
Cain, whose son, Charles, is a reporter with The Detroit News, was known as an outstanding auto writer. As a former Associated Press colleague said, "Charlie knew the beat inside and out and had so many contacts there never was a concern he'd be beaten on a story." Another added, ". . . and he had probably the best set of sources during his career in the auto writing corps."
The one thread throughout all of the letters of support for Cain was the role he played mentoring young journalists. He treated beginning reporters with respect and courtesy. He was a friend and teacher. Richard Oppel, editor of the Austin America- Statesman, wrote, "He influenced a generation of young reporters - those in the Associated Press bureau and many at smaller newspapers across Michigan who called him with stories - on the basic characteristics of a good journalist. Passion, speed, accuracy, fairness and a love of the story."
Barbara Stanton
Many young people enter journalism to do what Barbara Stanton has done: have an impact on her community and world. Whether it was news coverage or editorials, Stanton used words as a surgeon uses lasers. She cut to the heart of an issue and laid its essence bare for readers.
A native of Detroit, Stanton began work at the Detroit Free Press in 1959 and remained there until her retirement in 2000. Her career included work on the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Detroit riots in 1967. She was the first woman associate editor of the editorial page.
Her work won many awards, including the 1980 Scripps Howard Foundation's Walker Stone Award for outstanding editorial writing and numerous awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, the State Bar of Michigan, the Press Club Foundation and many other organizations.
Credibility is the most valuable commodity an editorial writer can have, and Stanton is known for her fairness and ability to present reasoned arguments concerning public issues. Former Gov. William Milliken wrote, "Her opinions and perspectives as expressed in the clarity and eloquence of her writing always deserved and received respect. She was held in high esteem by Democrats and Republicans alike in Lansing for her objectivity and sense of fairness."
Stanton wrote on many topics, but she is known best for her support of the environment. She wrote in a 1997 column, "Save the forests and you save the lungs of the universe. Save the wetlands and green space and you protect the purity of drinking water and head off billions in sewer construction costs. Save the shoreline and you have an instant, natural alternative to Prozac."
Alison Horton, director of the Mackinac Chapter of the Sierra Club, said in her letter of support, "We applaud Barbara for her vision and the influence of her editorial writing on the public and on decision makers all across Michigan. Our world is a better place because of her work."
Bob Talbert
By the time Bob Talbert came to Michigan in 1968, he had established a career in South Carolina as a successful sportswriter and editor. But in the 31 years that followed, he had a tremendous impact on the people of Detroit.
Talbert's nomination packet for the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame is one of the most diverse ever presented to the selection committee. It contains letters from politicians, business people, journalists, journalism educators and an actor. All of the letters mentioned the warm relationship between him and his readers. He cared deeply about his readers and it came across in his writing.
When Talbert died in November 1999, the Detroit Free Press received thousands of sympathy letters. The letters mentioned his skills as a journalist and his commitment to the people of Detroit. A support letter from Jeff Daniels summarizes the way readers felt: "I miss him and I miss his writing."
Talbert wrote more than 9,000 columns and they covered just about every topic of importance to Detroit during his three decades at the Detroit Free Press. In 1991, Talbert covered Operation Desert Shield, which preceded the Gulf War. Detroit Free Press Publisher Heath Meriwether wrote: "He was proud and determined to paint a picture of what it was really like for citizen soldiers to go beyond those periodic guard weekends and face the real threat of SCUD missiles and actual combat."
Of all the topics he explored in his column, scholastic journalism was a favorite. He spoke to standing-room-only crowds for 25 years at the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) conferences. Students loved him and he loved them. He wrote in a column: "One of the things I've been proudest of and found most satisfying in over two decades in Michigan has been my association with the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association . . ." In recognition of this commitment, the Detroit Free Press established the Bob Talbert Memorial Scholarship to help high school journalists attend the MIPA summer workshop.
Neal Shine summarized his career well: "Somehow, he was able to understand the tempo and the passion of this city and put it into words. And his words touched the broadest spectrum of readers."
The Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame is co-sponsored by several state media organizations: the Detroit Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, the Detroit Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Women in Communications, the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Michigan Press Association and the Michigan Press Women.
In addition, three university journalism programs serve as co-sponsors: Central Michigan University, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.