Meyer "Mike" Berger (September 1, 1898 – February 8, 1959) was an American journalist, considered one of the finest newspaper reporters. He was also known for "About New York", a long-running column in ''

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 ...

'', and for his centennial history of that paper. Since the year after his death,

Columbia School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sc ...

annually gives the Berger Award to a reporter for outstanding local reporting.

Early life

Meyer Berger was born in New York City on September 1, 1898, the son of a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

( that is, from Austria-Hungary) immigrant father and a storekeeper mother. Sometime after his birth, the family moved from the Lower East Side of New York City to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Berger dropped out of school for financial reasons and became a messenger for a newspaper, the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under pub ...

''. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Berger was a member of the 106th Infantry, 26th U.S. Division and was awarded a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

and the Silver Star. In 1928, Berger joined the staff of ''The Times'', where, except for a short stint at ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', he worked until his death in 1959.

Career

Berger soon became the top color writer at ''The Times''Greatreporters.co.uk
/ref> (whose 1959 obituary labeled him "master of human-interest story") writing mostly on local matters including murders, the mob, and the 1939 New York World's Fair. Known for his use of detail and color, Berger's pieces were often used in other media. His report on the first wounded soldiers returning from Europe during World War II became a radio script while another became a documentary. In 1939, he began the column "About New York". His book about New York, ''The Eight Million: a journal of a New York correspondent'', was published by Simon & Schuster in 1942, as was ''The Story of the New York Times 1851–1951'' in 1951. (''Times'' publisher

Arthur Hays Sulzberger Arthur Hays Sulzberger (September 12, 1891December 11, 1968) was the publisher of ''The New York Times'' from 1935 to 1961. During that time, daily circulation rose from 465,000 to 713,000 and Sunday circulation from 745,000 to 1.4 million; the st ...

cut several passages about his leadership from the book, which left Berger "ashamed" of the final product.) A collection of "About New York" columns was published posthumously as ''Meyer Berger's New York'' (Random House, 1960). The first edition was introduced by

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for '' The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of hi ...

; a later edition by

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...

Pulitzer Prize

Berger won the annual

Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting is awarded to an example of "local reporting that illuminates significant issues or concerns." This Pulitzer Prize was first awarded in 1948. Like most Pulitzers the winner receives a $15,000 award. History ...

in 1950."Local Reporting"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-06. At that time there were International, National, and Local prizes for reporting. The number of subdivisions has increased, sometimes including one specifically for local reports "prepared under the pressure of edition time", such as Berger's account of the rampage by mass murderer

Howard Unruh Howard Barton Unruh (January 21, 1921 – October 19, 2009) was an American mass murderer who shot and killed thirteen people during a twelve-minute walk through his neighborhood in Camden, New Jersey, on September 6, 1949 in an incident that b ...

in Camden, New Jersey on September 6, 1949. A 28-year-old World War II veteran, Unruh killed 13 people, wounded several others and was arrested after a police standoff at his apartment in Camden. For the report, Berger retraced Unruh's steps and interviewed 50 witnesses. He prepared and typed the 4,000-word article in two-and-a-half hours and it was published unedited in the newspaper the next morning. Berger donated the $1,000 Pulitzer Prize money to Unruh's mother.

Legacy

Berger is often called one of the best American journalists"Legends of True Crime Reporting: Meyere Berger"
''Legends of True Crime Reporting'' (blog). May 7, 2005. Laurajames.com. and some of his articles are considered to be the best examples of color reporting: such as his Pulitzer winner, his report on the arrival of the first set of coffins from Europe after the war, and the baseball poetry he wrote about the error that cost the Brooklyn Dodgers the fourth game of the 1941 World Series. The Meyer Berger Award for outstanding human-interest journalism is named after him. '' Newsday'' reporter Murray Kempton is said to have expressed disappointment that he had never won "the Berger", at the Berger luncheon after winning the Pulitzer: "The Pulitzer is named for a publisher. The Meyer Berger is named for a reporter."Duggan, Dennis (November 1996)
"Murray Kempton: Journalist of Sacred Rage"
''Silurian News''.

References

External links

Berger Award
at