User:Crtew/John L. Dotson Jr.

John L. Dotson Jr. (February 2, 1937 – June 21, 2013) was the first African-American publisher of a US general circulation newspaper, the Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio, United States. Dotson is known for his journalism and publishing controversial articles and becoming the publisher of the journal in 1992. His newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 and he was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2004.

Personal
John L. Dotson Jr. was born on February 5, 1937, in Paterson, New Jersey. He went to Temple University where he earned his Bachelors degree and also received a honorary doctorate in 1981. He and his wife Peggy had 3 children. After he retired, he moved into his residence in Boulder, Colorado. Dotson passed at the age of 76 on June 21, 2013 as a result of mantle cell lymphoma.

Career
After graduating from college, Dotson joined the Evening News in Newark, New Jersey, as a reporter. He then moved to the Detroit Free Press. And in 1965, he started working for Newsweek magazine in Detroit, later for three years was at the magazine's Los Angeles bureau, and he became a Sr. Editor there. While in Detroit, he covered the 1967 race riots. Dotson left Newsweek to join Knight-Ridder, he also served as director of operations at the Philadelphia Inquirer. From 1987 to 1992, Dotson publiished the Daily Camera. In 1992, he became publisher for the Akron Beacon Journal and was there until 2002. The Journal won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 in the category of Public Service for its series on race relations. Dotson also co-founded the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

Notable works of journalism
The Akron Beacon Journal had a five part series called "A Question of Color" which won a Pulitzer Prize. The last installment included pledges from readers to end racism, which further resulted in 22,000 responses from readers. The newspaper then published a special supplement with these pledges.

Impact
Dotson was acknowledged by the National Association of Black Journalists in its President's Award and when it inducted him into its Hall of Fame for having been a champion for diversity in the newsroom. In 1977, Mr. Dotson and eight other journalists founded a nonprofit organization, later renamed Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, to train and expand opportunities for minority journalists. This program is operated in conjunction with the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University. While Dotson was the publisher at the Beacon Journal, the paper examined race related issues, which led to a series of article that won the Pulitzer Prize.