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Remembering Ben Bradlee

via Flickr user Miguel Ariel Contreras Drake-McLaughlin

 Ben Bradlee, former top editor at the Washington Post, died at his Washington, D.C. home Tuesday. He was 93 years old. Bradlee ran the paper for more than 26 years, taking over in 1965, and transforming it into one of the nation's strongest daily newspapers of record. Missouri School of Journalism professors Earnest Perry, Jim Flink and Amy Simons discuss the issue.

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Professor Earnest Perry said Ben Bradlee will always be remembered for his role in coverage of the Watergate scandal.

"Out of that [event] came a whole generation of journalists who were trained and basically got into the profession because of what Bradlee, Woodward and Bernstein did in that Watergate era," Perry said.

http://youtu.be/gtkWPIUXrlo

Perry said because of Bradlee's good judgment, the Post made history by being one of the only newspapers to follow the whole scandal.

Professor Jim Flink said he believes Bradlee helped "to write a chapter of journalistic history."

I think all journalists should look to and be proud of [Bradlee], in the respect that when government failed, journalists stepped into a role and really performed a very valuable function to our society as a whole. And for that, I think he deserves his spot in history.

Hope Kirwan left KBIA in September 2015.
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