A beloved chief in journalism and a former editor of the Mercury Information who as soon as led the Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists, Bryan Monroe, has died.
Monroe, 55, died of a coronary heart assault at his dwelling in Bethesda, Maryland on Wednesday morning, the Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists introduced.
“Bryan has been a trailblazer in our business for years,” NABJ President Dorothy Tucker stated in a written assertion. “We’re each shocked and deeply saddened by his passing. He helped numerous journalism professionals and college students to hone their expertise in attaining excellence of their craft.”
Monroewas president of the NABJ from 2005 to 2007 — certainly one of many management roles he held throughout an illustrious profession that impressed lots of those that labored with him.
Most lately, he was a professor and Verizon Chair at Temple College’s Klein Faculty of Media and Communication.
Previous to that, he was the editor of CNNPolitics.com, the place he led editorial planning for on-line and cell political protection.
Monroe’s profession started on the Mercury Information in 1991, after he had already been a photojournalist at The Seattle Occasions and different newspapers, in keeping with his LinkedIn web page and interviews with individuals who knew him.
David Yarnold, a former government editor of the Mercury Information, employed Monroe as an assistant managing editor of graphics.
“He was a very gifted man who understood tips on how to mix phrases and footage in a strong design,” Yarnold stated. “There wasn’t something about newspapering that he couldn’t do.”
Yarnold stated he was shocked and saddened to listen to of his pricey buddy’s passing, having simply spoken to Monroe final week.
“He was compulsively inventive, he was joyful. He was a fierce advocate for journalists of shade and for excellent journalism,” stated Yarnold in describing Monroe’s lauded profession. “He did all of it with grace and with nice intelligence. He was a pure chief, and glorious journalists gravitated towards him.”
Others hailed Monroe’s means to encourage and encourage.
Michael Malone, a former Mercury Information photojournalist and director of images and at the moment image editor on the San Francisco Chronicle, described Monroe as an “unbelievable mentor” who all the time took the time to take a look at his portfolio or present encouraging phrases.
“The world wants extra Bryan Monroes proper now,” Malone stated.
Monroe held a wide range of positions on the Mercury Information and finally was promoted to the assistant vice chairman of reports at Knight Ridder Newspapers, the then-owner of the Mercury Information, and headed groups overlaying main information occasions. Whereas at Knight Ridder, Monroe helped lead journalists on the Biloxi Solar Herald of their protection of Hurricane Katrina that earned the 2006 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service.
Monroe was additionally vice chairman and editorial director at Ebony and Jet magazines, the place he led protection of the 2008 presidential election and carried out the primary interview with President Barack Obama after he was elected.
“It was a unprecedented interview and was one of many causes I informed CNN’s management that we should always rent Bryan Monroe as our Political Editor,” Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief and senior vice chairman, told a CNN reporter. “I’ve by no means met somebody who was as snug in any setting — whether or not with a bunch of politicians, college students, Black journalists, or white journalists. Bryan navigated these worlds higher than anyone and the bridges he constructed between folks and between teams shall be round an extended very long time.”
Monroe additionally did the final main interview with pop icon Michael Jackson earlier than his loss of life, which he wrote about for CNN.
Monroe was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard College and in addition taught as a visiting professor at Northwestern College’s Medill College of Journalism.
Tucker, of the NABJ, added in an announcement shared by the affiliation, “Bryan texted me simply a few days in the past to verify in on me. He was a real buddy who offered recommendation, assist and an ear when wanted. I can not think about NABJ with out him.”
Monroe was additionally a board co-chair on the Worldwide Girls’s Media Basis.
“Bryan was a loving and beneficiant buddy – a loyal and trusted confidant who infused optimism and hope into each scenario,” stated the IWMF’s board vice-chair and CNN nationwide correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, in a written assertion. “Bryan’s biggest reward was his means to attach so many individuals and produce out the very best in them.”
In a message to school and employees Wednesday, Klein Faculty Dean David Boardman referred to as Monroe “a loyal buddy, loving father, a gifted journalist and caring, devoted instructor” and famous Monroe’s advocacy for protection of underrepresented communities and for journalists of shade.
Monroe had been co-leading a Klein Faculty process power to do a “content material and tradition audit” for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Boardman wrote.
And in a strong opinion piece he authored final summer season, he urged white People to step as much as battle in opposition to racism in America.
“So, proper now, what are you able to do about it?,” he wrote in early June, as demonstrators throughout the U.S. marched in opposition to police brutality and systemic racism. “As a begin, you possibly can open your self as much as our each day actuality. Hear — together with your mouths closed and your hearts open — as your black associates speak about what they cope with day-after-day.”
He’s survived by his fiancee Abrielle (Abe), his daughter Seanna, son Jackson, his sister and his father.
CNN contributed reporting.
