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| ANY ACCUSATIONS ABOUT '''JOHN SEIGENTHALER SR.''' HAVING KILLED PRESIDENT KENNEDY WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE BLOCKAGE. BRIAN CHASE IMITATIONS ARE NOT TOLERATED. | |||
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| '''John Lawrence Seigenthaler''' (]: {{IPA|}}; born ], ]) is an ], ], and ]. | |||
| Seigenthaler joined '']'' in 1949 and became its editor in 1962, ] in 1973, and chairman in 1982 before retiring as chairman emeritus in 1991. Seigenthaler was also the founding editorial director of '']'' from 1982 to 1991. He served on the board of directors of the ] and from 1988 to 1989 was its president. | |||
| While covering a story in the mid-1950s, Seigenthaler met singer Dolores Watson. Giving up dreams of a musical career, Watson married Seigenthaler in 1955, and later gave birth to the couple's only child, ], currently an ] with ]. The elder Seigenthaler's brother, Thomas Seigenthaler, was the founder of Seigenthaler Public Relations. | |||
| ==Early years== | |||
| Born in ], Seigenthaler was the oldest of eight siblings. He attended Father Ryan High School and served in the ] from 1946 to 1949. After leaving the service, Seigenthaler was hired at ''The Tennessean'' as a reporter after his uncle encouraged an editor about his talent.<ref name="early">{{cite news|title=Seigenthaler Named Nieman Fellow|date=June 5, 1958|publisher=The Tennessean}}</ref> Those skills weren't immediately evident after he was lectured by an editor about his first article, but he was able to establish himself on the staff among heavy competition that included future standout journalists ] and ]. | |||
| While working at ''The Tennessean'', Seigenthaler took courses in sociology and literature at ], now part of ]. He also attended the ] at ].<ref name="early"/> | |||
| ==Beginnings as a reporter== | |||
| ] | |||
| Seigenthaler began his career in journalism as a police beat reporter in ''The Tennessean'' city room.<ref name="mentor">{{cite news|first=Frank|last=Ritter|title=A Model and Mentor: Seigenthaler Leaves Mark at Newspapers Nationwide|date=December 6, 1991|publisher=The Tennessean}}</ref> He first gained prominence in November 1953 when he tracked down the former Thomas C. Buntin and his wife. The bizarre case involved the son of a wealthy Nashville business owner who had disappeared in September 1931, followed six weeks later by the disappearance of his secretary. Seigenthaler was sent to Texas by ''The Tennessean'' after reports surfaced that Buntin (now known as Thomas D. Palmer) was living somewhere in the Lone Star state. After a series of dead-ends, Seigenthaler struck pay dirt in Orange, Texas, where he saw an elderly man step off a bus. Noting the man's distinctive left ear, Seigenthaler followed him home. After three further days of investigation, he went back to the home, where he confirmed the identities of Buntin/Palmer, his wife, the former Betty McCuddy, and their six children.<ref name="couple">{{cite news|title=Visitors in Limbo|date=December 7, 1953|publisher=Time Magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,890714,00.html}}</ref> Seigenthaler won a ] for the story.<ref name="mentor"/> | |||
| Less than a year later, on October 5, 1954, Seigenthaler once again made national news for his efforts in saving a ] man from jumping off the ] in Nashville. Gene Bradford Williams had called ''The Tennessean'' saying he would jump and for the newspaper to "send a reporter and photographer if you want a story." After talking to Williams at the bridge for 40 minutes, Seigenthaler watched the man begin to attempt his 100-foot plunge off the bridge railing. Grabbing hold of his collar, Seigenthaler and police saved the man from falling into the ]. Williams muttered "I'll never forgive you" to Seigenthaler.<ref name="bridge">{{cite news|page=6|title=Reporter Balks Man's Suicide From Bridge|date=October 6, 1954|publisher=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> | |||
| In July 1957, Seigenthaler began a battle to eliminate corruption within the local branch of the ], noting the criminal backgrounds of key employees, along with the uses of intimidation in keeping news of certain union activities quiet. During this period, he contacted ] and ], both top Teamsters officials, but the two men ignored Seigenthaler's queries. His series of articles resulted in the impeachment of Chattanooga Criminal Court Judge Ralston Schoolfield.{{fact}} | |||
| Seigenthaler took a one-year ] from ''The Tennessean'' in 1958 to participate in ] prestigious ] program.<ref name="early"/> Upon returning to ''The Tennessean'', Seigenthaler became an assistant city editor and special-assignments reporter.<ref name="mentor"/> | |||
| ==Association with Robert F. Kennedy== | |||
| Frustrated by the leadership of ''Tennessean'' publisher ], Seigenthaler resigned in 1960 to serve as an administrative assistant to incoming ] ]. On April 21, 1961, Seigenthaler was the only other Justice Department figure to witness a meeting between Kennedy and ]. | |||
| During the ] of 1961, he was sent to be chief ] for the government, in its attempts to work with ] ]. After several days of refusing to return calls, Patterson finally agreed to protect the Riders, but their state trooper escort disappeared as soon as they arrived in Montgomery on May 20, 1961, leaving them unprotected before the waiting white mob.<ref name="gitlin">{{cite book | last = Gitlin | first = Todd | authorlink = Todd Gitlin | title = ] | publisher = ] | year = 1987 | id = ISBN 0553052330}}</ref> | |||
| The mob attacked violently. Seigenthaler was a block away and rushed to help. Attempting to save Susan Wilbur,<ref name="wilbur">{{cite news|title=Aide Hurt in Riots Returns to Capital|date=May 22, 1961|publisher=United Press International}}</ref> a Freedom Rider who was being chased by the mob, Seigenthaler shoved her into his car before being hit behind the left ear with a pipe. Knocked unconscious, he was not picked up until police arrived 10 minutes later, with Montgomery Police Commissioner Lester B. Sullivan noting, "We have no intention of standing police guard for a bunch of troublemakers coming into our city."<ref name="riot">{{cite news|title=President's Representative Hurt Helping a Girl Escape Violence|date=May 21, 1961|publisher=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name="riot2">{{cite book|last=Branch|first=Taylor|title=Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63|year=1988|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-671-68742-5|pages=428–452}}</ref> | |||
| Seigenthaler's brief career in government would wind down as a result of Evans' death from a heart attack on July 29, 1961. A brief transition period, during which long-time ''Tennessean'' reporter ] served as publisher, was followed on March 20, 1962 by the announcement that Evans' brother, ], would be the newspaper's new publisher. | |||
| One of the new Evans' first duties would be to bring back Seigenthaler as editor. The two had worked together before at the paper, when Seigenthaler served as assistant city editor and Evans was an aspiring journalist. On one occasion during that era, the two nearly came to blows over Seigenthaler's assignment of Evans to a story. | |||
| Evans named Seigenthaler editor of ''The Tennessean'' on March 21, 1962.<ref name="editor">{{cite news|pages=|title=Seigenthaler Editor Of Tennessean|date=March 22, 1962|publisher=Nashville Banner}}</ref> With this new team in place, ''The Tennessean'' quickly regained its hard-hitting reputation. One example of the paper's resurgence came following a Democratic primary in August 1962, when ''The Tennessean'' found documented evidence of voter fraud based on absentee ballots in the city's second ward.<ref name="voterfraud">{{cite news|title=The Fighting Tennessean|date=September 14, 1962|publisher=Time Magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,874473,00.html}}</ref> | |||
| Seigenthaler's friendship with Kennedy became one of the focal points of ]'s bid to shift his jury tampering trial from Nashville. Citing "one-sided, defamatory" coverage from the newspaper, Hoffa's lawyers were able to get Seigenthaler to admit he personally wanted Hoffa convicted. However, the journalist noted that he hadn't conveyed those sentiments to his reporters. Hoffa's lawyers gained a minor victory when the trial was moved to ] in a ], but Hoffa was nonetheless convicted in 1964 after a 45-day trial. | |||
| The following year, Seigenthaler led a fight for access to the Tennessee state senate chamber in Nashville after a resolution was passed revoking the floor privileges of ''Tennessean'' reporter Bill Kovach. The action came after Kovach had refused to leave a committee hearing following a call for ]. | |||
| In December 1966, Seigenthaler and ] represented the Kennedy family when controversy developed about ]'s book, "Death of a President," about the ]. Seigenthaler had read an early version of the book, which led to ] threatening a lawsuit over inaccurate and private statements in the publication. | |||
| Seigenthaler then took a temporary leave from his duties at the newspaper to work on Robert Kennedy's ]. During this period, the journalist was described by the ''New York Times'' as, "one of a handful of advisers in whom has absolute confidence."<ref name="advisor">{{cite news|first=Wallace|last=Turner|title=New Aides Try to Reverse Decline in Kennedy California Drive|date=May 10, 1968|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> Moments after a victory in the California primary, Kennedy was shot by an assassin and died on June 6, 1968. Seigenthaler would serve as one of the ]s at his funeral, and later co-edited the book ''An Honorable Profession: A Tribute to Robert F. Kennedy''. | |||
| Remaining focused on the cause of civil rights, Seigenthaler then supported Tennessee ] ] in 1969 during the latter's contentious fight to end ], a stance that outraged many in the community who still believed in the concept. | |||
| ==Time as publisher== | |||
| On February 8, 1973, Seigenthaler was promoted to publisher of the ''Tennessean'', after Amon Carter Evans was named president of Tennessean Newspaper, Inc. | |||
| In February 1976, Seigenthaler contacted ''Tennessean'' reporter ] at home to inform him that ] ] was not running for re-election. Gore decided to resign from the paper and drop out of ], beginning his political career by entering the race for ], a seat previously held by ], his father. | |||
| On May 5, 1976, Seigenthaler dismissed Jacque Srouji, a ] at ''The Tennessean'', after finding that she had served as an ] for the ] (FBI) for much of the previous decade. The controversy came to light after Srouji testified before the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the ], which was investigating ]. Srouji, who was writing a book critical of ], had perused more than 1000 pages of FBI documents pertaining to the nuclear power critic. In followup testimony, FBI agent Lawrence J. Olson, Sr. acknowledged that the bureau had a "special relationship" with Srouji. ''Tennessean'' reporters had been suspicious of Srouji's reporting coups, coming just months after she had joined the paper. These included such things as a late-night FBI raid on illegal ] establishments, as well as one on a local business suspected of fraud.<ref name="srouji">{{cite news|pages=|title=A Special Relationship|date=May 24, 1976|publisher=Time Magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,879750,00.html}}</ref> | |||
| Afterwards the FBI appears to have collected rumors about Seigenthaler. FBI Deputy Assistant Director Homer Boynton told an editor of the '']'' to "look into Seigenthaler," whom he called "not entirely pure." After hearing this, Seigenthaler tried for a year to get his FBI files, and finally received some highly expurgated material including these words: "Allegations of Seigenthaler having illicit relations with young girls, which information source obtained from an unnamed source." He had previously promised to publish whatever the FBI gave him, and did so. He flatly stated that the charges were false. The attorney general issued an apology, the allegations were removed from Seigenthaler's file, and he received the 1976 ] for "courage in publishing".<ref name="fbi1">{{cite news|first=Anthony|last=Lewis|title=Not Entirely Pure|date=August 25, 1977|publisher=New York Times}}</ref><ref name="fbi2">{{cite news|title=Letter, The Silkwood Case|date=April 29, 1982|publisher=The New York Review of Books |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/6616}}</ref> | |||
| In May 1982, Seigenthaler was named the first editorial director of ''USA Today''. In announcing the appointment, ] president ] said Seigenthaler was "one of the most thoughtful and respected editors in America."<ref name="UASToday">{{cite news|first=Charles|last=Fontenay |title=Publisher Heads Editorial Voice For USA TODAY|date=May 14, 1982|publisher=The Tennessean}}</ref> During Seigenthaler's tenure at ''USA Today'', he frequently commuted between Nashville and ] to fulfill his duties at both newspapers.<ref name="commute">{{cite news|title=7 Staffers Taking Up Duties at 'USA Today'|date=September 7, 1982|publisher=The Tennessean}}</ref> | |||
| The publication of author Peter Maas' 1983 book, ''Marie: A True Story'', again put Seigenthaler under scrutiny over the investigation of a pardon scandal involving former Tennessee governor ]. Marie Ragghianti was the head of the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles before being fired after refusing to release prisoners who had bribed Blanton's aides. Since the ''Tennessean'' had supported Blanton, the newspaper's initial reluctance in investigating the charges was called into question. However, editors and reporters had believed that Ragghianti's alleged broken affair with Blanton's chief counsel, T. Edward Sisk, was the motivation for her claims.<ref name="pardon">{{cite news|first=Jonathan|last=Friendly|title=Debate on Reporting of Nashville Scandal Reopens|date=July 22, 1983|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
| ==Later life== | |||
| ] | |||
| In ], ] established the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies, honoring Seigenthaler's "lifelong commitment to free expression values".<ref name="chairmanship">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtsu.edu/~rcme/chairs.html|title=Middle Tennessee State University Chairs of Excellence|accessdate=January 11|accessyear=2006}}</ref> | |||
| However, three years later, Seigenthaler again became embroiled in controversy with the FBI when he was tipped off by Circuit Court Judge Gilbert S. Merritt that his friend since childhood, Nashville-Davidson County Sheriff Lafayette "Fate" Thomas, was the target of a FBI government corruption sting. Although Seigenthaler was never charged with any crime, Thomas later pled guilty to mail fraud, theft of government property, and tax conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison. Despite the conviction, the FBI claimed that Thomas' knowledge of the plan ruined countless hours of investigative work.<ref name="sheriff">{{cite news|first=James|last=Brosnan|pages=A4|title=Tenn. Judge in High-Court Pool Hampered Sting|date=June 4, 1993|publisher=The Commercial Appeal}}</ref> | |||
| Seigenthaler announced his retirement in December 1991 from ''The Tennessean'', just months after he made a similar announcement concerning his tenure at ''USA Today''. | |||
| On December 15, 1991, Seigenthaler founded the ] at ],<ref name="center">{{cite web|url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/biography.aspx?name=seigenthaler|title=John Seigenthaler Biography at First Amendment Center|accessdate=May 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> saying, "It is my hope that this center at Vanderbilt University... will help promote appreciation and understanding for those values so vital in a democratic society." The center serves as a forum for dialog about ] issues, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. | |||
| Over the next few years, Seigenthaler's prominent status became the focus of two arrests. During the case of ] Jonathan David Brown, a federal witness testified that Seigenthaler was among the potential murder targets of Brown. The witness stated that he and Brown had attended a reception that Seigenthaler was at, "for future reference." Then, just days after the ] in 1995, two brothers facing weapons charges, Sean and Brian Bottoms, had reportedly acknowledged that they were considering kidnapping Seigenthaler. That turned out to be incorrect, when it was revealed Seigenthaler's son, John Jr., was one of the intended targets. | |||
| In 2001, Seigenthaler was appointed to the ] that followed the ]. He is also a member of the Constitution Project on Liberty and Security. | |||
| In 2002, when it was discovered that '']'' reporter ] had fabricated some of his stories, ''USA Today'' turned to Seigenthaler, along with veteran editors ] and ], to monitor the investigation.<ref>], , '']'', 19 March 2004</ref> | |||
| In 2002, Vanderbilt renamed the 57,000-square-foot (5,300 m²) building that houses the ], First Amendment Center, and Diversity Institute the John Seigenthaler Center. At one point, ''USA Today'' and Freedom Forum founder ] called Seigenthaler "the best champion of the First Amendment."<ref name="champion">{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=7821| title=Public dangerously unsupportive of free press, Seigenthaler warns|accessdate=May 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> | |||
| Seigenthaler currently hosts a book review program on Nashville ] station ], called ''A Word on Words'', and chairs the selection committees for the ] Foundation's ] and the ]'s ].{{clear}} | |||
| ===Misplaced Pages controversy=== | |||
| <!--Note: This section is a brief summary of the events. If you would like to add more detailed information, please edit the main controversy article rather than this one.-->] in December 2005 concerning Seigenthaler's false Misplaced Pages biography.]] | |||
| {{main|John Seigenthaler Sr. Misplaced Pages biography controversy}} | |||
| In May 2005, an anonymous user (later identified as Brian Chase) created a five-sentence ] article about Seigenthaler which contained defamatory content. The article remained largely unchanged for four months, until it was brought to Seigenthaler's attention. | |||
| Seigenthaler contacted Misplaced Pages in September, and the content was deleted. He later wrote an ] on the experience for '']'' on November 29, in which he wrote "Misplaced Pages is a flawed and irresponsible research tool."<ref name="wikipedia">{{cite news|first=John|last=Seigenthaler|title=A false Misplaced Pages 'biography'|date=], ]|publisher=USA Today|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm}}</ref> The op-ed prompted many commentators to write about the issue and the reliability of open editing models in the following weeks. | |||
| ==Publications== | |||
| *{{cite book | author= Seigenthaler, John | title=James K. Polk: 1845-1849: The American Presidents Series | location=New York | publisher=Times Books | year=2004 | id=ISBN 0-8050-6942-9}} | |||
| *{{cite book | author= Seigenthaler, John | title=The Year of the Scandal Called Watergate | location=New York | publisher=Times Books | year=1974 | id=ISBN 0-914636-01-4}} | |||
| *{{cite book | author= Seigenthaler, John | title=A Search for Justice | publisher=Aurora Publishers | year=1971 | id=ISBN 0-87695-003-9}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| <references/> | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * official website | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| <!-- Metadata: see ] --> | |||
| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME=Siegenthaler, John, Sr. | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American journalist, writer, political figure | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH=], ] | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH=], ] | |||
| |DATE OF DEATH= | |||
| |PLACE OF DEATH= | |||
| }} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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Revision as of 14:56, 11 September 2006
FUCK YO UFAGGOTS