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Jerry Ceppos
Born
Jerome Merle Ceppos

(1946-10-14)October 14, 1946
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedJuly 29, 2022(2022-07-29) (aged 75)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Maryland
Occupation(s)Journalist, news executive, educator
EmployerLouisiana State University
Known forDark Alliance controversy
Spouse
Karen Feingold
​
(m. 1982)​
Children2
AwardsFellow, Society of Professional Journalists

Jerome Merle Ceppos (October 14, 1946 – July 29, 2022) was an American journalist, news executive, and educator.

Ceppos was the former editor of San Jose Mercury News[1] and the Dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University.[2] Ceppos received positive recognition for his career in journalism that stressed ethics, introduction of new technology and newsroom diversity. He faced outside criticism for his failure to defend colleague Gary Webb following the publication of "Dark Alliance," a series of investigative reports linking the CIA and the Contras to the U.S. crack epidemic.[3][4] He simultaneously received professional plaudits for apologizing for the journalistic shortcomings of the series.

Early life and education

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Ceppos was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended Northwood High School, where he edited The Red and Black school newspaper.[5] He graduated from University of Maryland in 1969 with a BA in journalism. While at the University of Maryland, he edited The Diamondback, the school's independent student newspaper.[5] He joined SDX, now the Society of Professional Journalists, and was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa.

Career

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Gannett

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Ceppos's first full-time professional position was at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, where he was reporter, assistant city editor, and night city editor between 1969 and 1972.[6]

Knight-Ridder

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In 1972, he moved to the Miami Herald, where he was assistant city editor, their first national foreign editor, and assistant managing editor for news before moving to the San Jose Mercury News in 1981, where he was associate editor, managing editor, senior vice president, and executive editor. While managing editor, the newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes. He also initiated a Vietnamese language edition, Viet Mercury and a Spanish language edition, Nuevo Mundo. He supported digital initiatives at a print journalism company and successfully championed diversity hiring. In 1999, he became vice president for news at Knight-Ridder, then the second=largest newspaper chain in the United States. He left the position in 2005.

University of Nevada – Reno

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From 2008 to 2011, he was dean and professor at the Reynolds School in Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, holding the Fred W. Smith Chair in Journalism. As incoming dean, he commissioned a large banner with the words of the First Amendment to hang in the school. He continued his professional goals by increasing diversity hiring and changing the curriculum to require cross-platform training for all students.

Louisiana State University

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In July 2011, he became dean and William B. Dickinson Distinguished Professor at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. He repeated his display of the First Amendment and moved the curriculum toward online media. He taught media ethics. He stepped down as dean at the end of the 2017–2018 academic year. He continued to teach "Media Writing," "Media Management," and "Media Ethics and Social Responsibility."[7] He died at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 29, 2022. "[8]

Other work

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Ceppos was consultant with Leading Edge Associates, a management consulting firm in San Jose, California, from 2006 to 2009. In 2007, he was Fellow in media ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Controversies

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Dark alliance

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Further information: CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking

Gary Webb, a reporter for The Mercury News hired in 1987 while Ceppos was executive editor, conducted a year-long investigation of cocaine dealing in Los Angeles, which was published in The Mercury News in three segments between August 18 and August 20, 1996, under the title "Dark Alliance."[9] Initial prsise for the series was followed by criticism from major media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times'x. After initially defending the series, Ceppos commissioned an internal review.[10] At the end of March 1997, Ceppos told Webb that he was going to publish the internal review findings in a column, which appeared on May 11, 1997.

Ceppos took personal responsibility for the series and its flaws in his opening sentence, writing "Few things in life are harder than owning up to one's shortcomings, but I need to tell you about an important case in which I believe that we fell short of my standards for the Mercury News." In the column, Ceppos continued to defend parts of the series, writing that it had "solidly documented" that the drug ring described in the series did have connections with the Contras and sold large quantities of cocaine in inner-city Los Angeles. But, Ceppos wrote, the series "did not meet our standards" in four areas. 1) It presented only one interpretation of conflicting evidence and in one case "did not include information that contradicted a central assertion of the series." 2) The series' estimates of the money involved was presented as fact instead of an estimate. 3) The series oversimplified how the crack epidemic grew. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics."

Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. His column concluded, asking, "How did these shortcomings occur? ... I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. Several people here share that burden ... But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine."[11]

Ceppos's mea culpa won praise in the journalism profession. He was awarded, along with two others, the first Ethics in Journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists for "superior ethical conduct."

Critics suggested Ceppos had caved to outside pressure, including that of the government and its agencies.

The 2014 film Kill the Messenger was based on the controversy with Oliver Platt playing Ceppos. Opinions about the movie paralleled those about the original series. There was controversy as to whether Ceppos had been contacted or not regarding the factual aspects of the movie.

Webb was found dead in his Carmichael, California home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. His death was ruled a suicide by the Sacramento County coroner's office.[citation needed]

Pre-publication review

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In August 1998 a financial story by Chris Schmitt was shared in its entirety with NASDAQ for fact-checking prior to publication. Changes were made prior to publication. This departure from standard journalism practice raised ethical questions regarding the relationship between journalists and the subjects they cover, who are not assumed to have control over the content of publication.[12]

Media

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Publications

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Electronic media

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Memberships and honors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Jerry Ceppos, former top editor of San Jose Mercury News, dies at 75". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  2. ^ "Jerry Ceppos, former top editor of The Mercury News, dead at 75". The Mercury News. July 31, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  3. ^ "America's Debt to Gary Webb". Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. March 1, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  4. ^ Mari, Will (February 3, 2022). Newsrooms and the Disruption of the Internet: A Short History of Disruptive Technologies, 1990–2010. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-57366-4.
  5. ^ a b Hoyt, Clark (July 30, 2022). "Jerry Ceppos, former top editor of The Mercury News, dead at 75". The Mercury news. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "Clipped From Democrat and Chronicle". Democrat and Chronicle. February 27, 1970. p. 9. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". appl101.lsu.edu. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Jerry Ceppos, former top editor of The Mercury News, dead at 75". July 31, 2022.
  9. ^ "Dark Alliance: The Stories". December 20, 1996. Archived from the original on December 20, 1996. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  10. ^ "Dark Alliance: Postscript". April 9, 1997. Archived from the original on April 9, 1997. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  11. ^ "Epilogue | Dark Alliance". November 19, 1997. Archived from the original on November 19, 1997. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  12. ^ Armstrong, David; Writer, Examiner Media (September 3, 1998). "Paper lets subject see story". SFGate. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  13. ^ "Leadership". LSU Museum of Art. Archived from the original on April 10, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  14. ^ "Council Members – ACEJMC". Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "SPJ honors Ceppos, Prather, Van Natta, as Fellows of the Society for exceptional service to journalism". www.spj.org. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  16. ^ "Scripps Howard Awards honors 2016 winners". KMGH. April 12, 2017. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  17. ^ "New York Times Wins Disability Reporting Award | National Center on Disability and Journalism". Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  18. ^ "ProPublica Wins Disability Reporting Award | National Center on Disability and Journalism". Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  19. ^ "ProPublica and PBS Frontline, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Milwaukee PBS win top prizes in 2019 Schneider Disability Reporting Competition | National Center on Disability and Journalism". Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  20. ^ "ASNE Awards 2004". members.newsleaders.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  21. ^ "ASNE Awards 2005". members.newsleaders.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  22. ^ "ASJMC: Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication". asjmc.org. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  23. ^ "APME conferences and presidents, from 1933 to today – APME – Associated Press Media Editors". www.apme.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^ "Ethics in Journalism Award – Society of Professional Journalists". www.spj.org. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  25. ^ "Knight Ridder Vice President/News Jerry Ceppos Announces Retirement". Bloomberg.com. August 22, 2005. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  26. ^ "Jurors for the 1997 Pulitzer Prizes". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  27. ^ "Board of Visitors". Philip Merrill College of Journalism. May 18, 2015. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
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