James Stengall

I am a retired editorial page editor for two newspapers, and pnor to that a reporter. Today I am involved in journalism educaiton and mentoring of young reporters.

I love the word "newspaperman" — or what it implies: A newspaperman is someone who knows a lot but lacks pretension; someone who knows how to take names and is unafraid of kicking backsides; someone who knows truth will prove ever elusive but is damn determined to pursue it. The quintessential newspaperman for me was the late Lars-Erik Nelson. Nelson wrote for the New York Daily News and The New York Review of Books.

That kind of journalistic courage is difficult to find anywhere today at all. I'm not talking about physical courage, which many good journalists display daily in Iraq and other dangerous places. I'm talking mental toughness.. We have very few Nelsons, few I.F. Stones, few David Halberstams and Neil Sheehans. People I consider courageous are Murray Waas at National Journal; Dan Froomkin at washingtonpost.com; the McClatchy Washington D.C. bureau, and Paul Krugman of the New York Times.