RIP Ben Bradlee

[Big Circus]

Damn.

http://wapo.st/1FzaivP

 

[Inky_Wretch]

The legendary editor was 93.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ben-bradlee-legendary-washington-post-editor-dies-at-93/2014/10/21/3e4cc1fc-c59c-11df-8dce-7a7dc354d1b1_story.html

 

[Dick Whitman]

This is a huge ****ing deal.

The greatest heights our (current or former) profession ever ascended to, and he oversaw it. We've all worked for people who won't even rattle the cage of the local high school track coach. This guy trusted his reporters to take down a president.

 

[Double Down]

A titan of the business. In a way, we all owe him and Kathy Graham a debt.

This was great.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ben-bradlee-his-sense-of-style-brought-a-new-sensibility-to-features/2014/10/21/d5cbe7a6-4fdb-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html?hpid=z2

 

[Boom_70]

Surprised that there is not more comment on one of the newspaper giants.

That pretty much leaves Rupert Murdoch as the last one left.

RIP

 

[DanOregon]

The sad thing is, you wonder how many people are still in the biz who were in newsrooms when Bradlee led the WP. He retired in '91. Even if that was your first year in the biz, how many 20 year vets are left in newsrooms?

 

[JackReacher]

Great piece by David Remnick: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/postscript-benjamin-c-bradlee

"Even if you were quite sure he didn't know your name, you were prepared to go to fantastic lengths to live up to his standards."

That's a great line, a telling one, and one that rings true based on all the tributes I've seen so far.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Spent most of last night and the better part of this morning read piece after piece about Bradlee.

How many editors dreamed of being Bradlee? How many reporters dreamed of working under him?


http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-22/that-night-richard-nixon-called-ben-bradlee?hootPostID=36e43b9820e196fdc5d3bc0cb4f57bf8

Lindsay had covered Richard Nixon, and while he was no fan of the ex-president, they had formed an inexplicable bond of sorts. I called the former president's office to see if there was any way Nixon might call John that evening. When the aide asked where -- those were the days before mobile phones --I gulped and said at the home of Ben Bradlee, the editor who played such a critical role in bringing down Nixon.
In the middle of the party, John was summoned to take a call. There was the unmistakable voice on the other end. "They said I would never go to China and I did," Nixon declared. "They said I would never call Ben Bradlee's house, and I just have."

The Lion Sleeps.

R.I.P.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

If you haven't read his masterpiece of an autobiography, now is the perfect time.

RIP

 

[Michael_ Gee]

He was the kind of person who would have been charismatic and dominating in his field if he'd been a plumber. Journalism was lucky he chose it.

 

[BTExpress]

The sad thing is, you wonder how many people are still in the biz who were in newsrooms when Bradlee led the WP. He retired in '91. Even if that was your first year in the biz, how many 20 year vets are left in newsrooms?

Maybe we're the exception, but there are a ton in our newsroom. Funny, when our "publishing center" got off the ground, a few vets held over, a few vets were hired and mostly young kids came aboard. Many of the young ones have since left and were replaced by 20+-year vets.

 

[Huggy]

Kornheiser and Wilbon remember Bradlee:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cpmafW3RdY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcyFbiWEZYA

 

[Drip]

The sad thing is, you wonder how many people are still in the biz who were in newsrooms when Bradlee led the WP. He retired in '91. Even if that was your first year in the biz, how many 20 year vets are left in newsrooms?

Not many of us left Dan. RIP to one of the greats.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Somebody from the Post at the time (might've been Christine Brennan),. told me Bradlee personally read the page proofs for the coverage of the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII in 1988.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Somebody from the Post at the time (might've been Christine Brennan),. told me Bradlee personally read the page proofs for the coverage of the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII in 1988.

I've always liked the story of how, when John Feinstein was new at the Post, it was Draft Day in the late 70s, before it was televised. Bradlee comes into the sports department and asks the editor, "Who did we get?"

Feinstein responds that he didn't know the Post owned an NFL franchise. Bradlee responded by telling him if he didn't like it, to not let the door hit him in the ass on the way out.

 

[Joe Williams]

Somebody from the Post at the time (might've been Christine Brennan),. told me Bradlee personally read the page proofs for the coverage of the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII in 1988.

I've always liked the story of how, when John Feinstein was new at the Post, it was Draft Day in the late 70s, before it was televised. Bradlee comes into the sports department and asks the editor, "Who did we get?"

Feinstein responds that he didn't know the Post owned an NFL franchise. Bradlee responded by telling him if he didn't like it, to not let the door hit him in the ass on the way out.

Funny and sad all at once.

 

[JackReacher]

Somebody from the Post at the time (might've been Christine Brennan),. told me Bradlee personally read the page proofs for the coverage of the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII in 1988.

I've always liked the story of how, when John Feinstein was new at the Post, it was Draft Day in the late 70s, before it was televised. Bradlee comes into the sports department and asks the editor, "Who did we get?"

Feinstein responds that he didn't know the Post owned an NFL franchise. Bradlee responded by telling him if he didn't like it, to not let the door hit him in the ass on the way out.

God, that's great.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Woodward & Bernstein on Bradlee:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-ben-bradlee-we-knew-friend-fierce-editor-and-a-truth-seeker-above-all/2014/10/28/c565eb86-5df1-11e4-9f3a-7e28799e0549_story.html

 

[TwoGloves]

Surprised that there is not more comment on one of the newspaper giants.

That pretty much leaves Rupert Murdoch as the last one left.

RIP

I'm sure the bloggers are mourning his loss from mom's basement.