Top 10 Famous Media Journalists of all time

Be it a war, storm, cyclone or an earthquake disaster, these media journalists are the only people who would risk their lives to keep us updated and risk their lives so that they can keep us safe. Be it Independence Day, Diwali, Holi or Chiristmas, journalists keep working 24 by 7 so that they can extract all the necessary information around them and deliver the important news to the rest of the world at their doorstep.

A journalist is an active, sensitive participant of social life and demonstrates independent and critical insight. Apart from qualities such as courage, social conscience, objectivity, enthusiasm and discretion, a journalist must have deep concerns for the destiny of his/her nation and the welfare of its people. Media professionals are the Shapers of the society. They can vulgarize that society. They can brutalize it. Or they can help lift it onto a higher level!

If you are an aspiring journalist and have been hunting constantly for some inspiration then you have indeed landed on the right page. This page gives you an insight into the top 10 famous media journalists of all time and the stimulating work done by them so far:

10. Carl Bernstein

Carl Bernstein has rightly proved the saying, “A pen is mightier than the sword” by showing the world a live example of how one’s journalistic skills can actually help bring about a drastic change in the society. Carl Bernstein is one of the most famous American investigative journalists of all time. He constantly worked with yet another great investigative journalist i.e. Bob Woodward, at ‘The Washington Post’. They brought about a revolution in the US by working together on the ‘Watergate scandal’ which eventually compelled the law to conduct various government investigations and ultimately led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. This was a cutting edge for ‘The Washington Post’ for which it received a Pultizer Prize for Public Service in 1973.

9. Walter Winchell

If you are a gossip person and have been criticized by the people that talking and writing gossip is utter waste of time then hang on, you need to re-consider this by looking at Walter Winchell. By using out of box and ingenious words in his writings, Walter very easily won the heart of his readers. He initially wrote gossip columns on the backstage bulletin boards and gradually went on to become a professional New York Daily Mirrorcolumnist and drama critic. His unparalleled style of writing gained immense popularity and at a time around 800 newspapers carried his column. He is also known to be one of the first American commentators to go against communism and Hitler’s ideology.

8. Elijah Parish Lovejoy

Elijah Parish Joy is amongst those journalists who literally put in their blood and sweat to get their point across the masses. He is a well-known journalist, newspaper editor as well as Presbyterian Minister. He was a strong protestor of slavery and urged the people to abolish slavery through his press in Illinois. He lost three presses to mobs who opposed his ideology. But he was still resolute to continue his protest and firmly believed that he has all the right to freedom of speech and expression as well as freedom of press. Unfortunately the fate did not support him and he was murdered by an aggressive mob that was attempting to set fire to his newspaper warehouse.

7. Helen Thomas

The long list of achievements earned by Helen Thomas clearly proves that she is a very eminent journalist and has worked head over heels to gain that position and respect today. She is honored to be the first female member and president of White House Correspondents’ Association, first female officer of the National Press Club and first female member of Gridiron Club. As a journalist she has shown exceptional performance as a news service reporter and member of White House Corps and opinion columnist of Lebanese Greek Orthodox/Melkite descent. She has an overwhelming experience of working initially for United Press, then for United Press International for 57 years, then as bureau manager of White House and later as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. She is particularly popular for writing about each and every president of United States from John F Kennedy to Obama.

6. Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White had been a leading and constant source of motivation for women aspiring journalists. She is renowned to be the first female war journalist as well as a skilled and accomplished photojournalist of all times. She started her career as a staff photographer at Fortune Magazine in 1929. She did some outstanding work by covering the Soviet Industry and creating a photographic documentation of World War II and Great Depression. She was in fact the only privileged photojournalist who was allowed by the US army to capture the war and she did it extraordinarily well. She is especially known for the popular picture of Mahatma Gandhi with the spinning wheel. She also did an incredible job of capturing the noteworthy India-Pakistan partition.

5. William Randolph Hearst

All the sensationalized and eye-catching news that we come across today and regard it as ‘Yellow Journalism’, actually took birth with the efforts of William Randolph Hearst. Randolph Hearst, son of the distinguished journalist George Hearst is credited as the inventor of ‘Yellow Journalism’. People often look at him as genetically deriving the journalistic qualities from his father. He brought about an insurgency in the field of Print media. His career ignited from ‘The San Francisco Examiner’ and went on from there to make a big name in the world of journalism.

4. Robert Capa

The famous saying by Robert Capa, “If you aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”, is seen as an inspiration by most of the photojournalists of the world. They consider him as their idol because of the exclusive work done by him. He has covered 5 wars and is known world-wide for the famous snap of ‘The falling soldier’ that he captured during the Spanish Civil War wherein he clicked a candid picture of death moment of a Republican soldier. Even during the World War II he captured amazing snaps of paratroopers jumping off in Germany. During one of his assignments in Vietnam during first Indochina war, he lost his life when he mistakenly stepped on a landmine.

3. Anna Quindlen

Anna Quindlen was much focused, determined and goal-oriented since childhood and she knew exactly how to pave her way to the top. Her unwavering passion for journalism gave her a kick start from her high-school wherein she worked for her high-school paper. Later, she went on to write interesting and in-demand columns like “Hers”, “Public and Private” and many more for New York Times which won her the Pultizer Award in 1992. This is the reason why she is known as the ‘Voice of the baby boomers’.

2. Bob Woodward

Bob Woodward born on March 26, 1943, completed his degree in History and English and then joined The Washington Post as a journalist. He, along with Carl Bernstein is renowned as the mystery solver for the famous‘Watergate Scandal’ which results in the resignation of the US president Richard Nixon. He is popularly known as ‘The big boss of journalism’ and also received Pultizer Award for unraveling the Watergate Scandal. These are the reasons why he is officially declared as the second best journalist in the world.

1. Joseph Pultizer

Joseph Pulitzer rightly said “If a nation can be compared to a large vessel at sea, then the journalists are its watch-keepers who timely report the treacherous shoals and hidden dangers to ensure the safe journey of the vessel.” And he accurately implemented this ideology in his life as a journalist. He worked for ‘St. Louis Post Dispatch’ and ‘New York World.’ He is honored as one of the most ingenious and creative journalists of the world. He was a member of U.S House of Representatives for some time but due to his journalistic duties, he discontinued his membership. He had worked for ‘New York World’ and ‘St. Louis Post Dispatch’. He is known to the world as the ‘Grandfather of Modern Journalism’.

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