Frank Conniff ( ;(27 May 1971)

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' April 24, 1914 – May 25, 1971) was an American journalist and editor who won a

Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic R ...

in 1956.''1972 Britannica Book of the Year'', 1972 (the book covers events of 1971), "Obituaries" article, page 521 Conniff was born in

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

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. His first newspaper job was as a copyboy with the '' Danbury News-Times''. He went to college at the

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, and after covering sports for one year in Danbury, joined

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in New York. He was also a combat reporter during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in Africa and Europe, and covered the Korean War in 1950–51. In 1958 he became general director of the Hearst Headline Service, which provided news features, and contributed a Washington column. In New York he later wrote the "Coniff's Corner" column. While Hearst would introduce Conniff as their "house Democrat," Conniff also reportedly supported Joseph McCarthy, as Hearst Newspapers were a McCarthy supporter. He unsuccessfully challenged Republican Congressman

Ogden Reid Ogden Rogers Reid (June 24, 1925 – March 2, 2019) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Israel and a six-term United States Representative from Westchester County, New York. Early life Reid was born in New Y ...

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in the 1964 election.(11 March 1964)
Hearst Executive Chosen to Oppose Reid for House
''

''Folsom, Merrill (13 October 1964)
Reid and Conniff Irk Mitchell by Liberal Views in 26th
''

'' Conniff interviewed Nikita S. Khrushchev, premier of the

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, in

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in 1955 for Hearst's

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, earning him a 1956 Pulitzer Prize, which he shared with William Randolph Hearst, Jr. and Joseph Kingsbury Smith for a series of exclusive interviews with leaders of the Soviet Union. (In 1959 Smith became publisher of the '' New York Journal-American''.) New York Times obituary of Joseph Kingsbury Smith published on February 5, 1999
/ref> Conniff was editor of

's ''

World Journal Tribune The ''New York World Journal Tribune'' (''WJT'', and hence the nickname ''The Widget'') was an evening daily newspaper published in New York City from September 1966 until May 1967. The ''World Journal Tribune'' represented an attempt to save th ...

'' of New York from 1966 to 1967, when the newspaper ceased publication. He was also national editor of Hearst Newspapers.(9 April 1957)
Hearst Promotes 3: Conniff Made National Editor of Newspaper Group
''

'' He had a stroke shortly after the close of the ''World Journal Tribune'' from which he partly recovered. He was a regular panelist on the

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, ''

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'', along with H. V. Kaltenborn,

Peggy Ann Garner Peggy Ann Garner (February 3, 1932 – October 16, 1984) was an American child actress. As a child actress, Garner had her first film role in 1938. At the 18th Academy Awards, Garner won the Academy Juvenile Award, recognizing her body of c ...

Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Earl ...

, and

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

. Conniff died of a heart attack at age 57 in New York on May 25, 1971. His son Frank Jr. is a comedic actor and writer.

References

1914 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American writers American male journalists American newspaper journalists American war correspondents of World War II People from Danbury, Connecticut Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners University of Virginia alumni War correspondents of the Korean War {{US-journalist-1910s-stub