Jerome Merle Ceppos (October 14, 1946 – July 29, 2022) was an American journalist, news executive, and educator. Ceppos was the former editor of the ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' and the dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. He was recognized for his career in journalism which stressed ethics, introduction of new technology and newsroom diversity. He faced outside criticism for his failure to defend colleague

Gary Webb Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a reputation for investigative writing. ...

following the publication of "Dark Alliance," a series of investigative reports linking the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and the

Contras In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...

to the U.S. crack epidemic. He simultaneously received professional plaudits for apologizing for the journalistic shortcomings of the series.

Early life and education

Ceppos was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and grew up in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

. He attended

Northwood High School Northwood High School may refer to: * Northwood High School (Irvine, California) * Northwood High School (Louisiana) * Northwood High School (Maryland) * NorthWood High School, Nappanee, Indiana * Northwood High School (North Carolina), Pittsboro ...

, where he edited ''The Red and Black'' school newspaper. He graduated from

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 1969 with a BA in journalism. There, he edited ''

The Diamondback ''The Diamondback'' is an independent student newspaper associated with the University of Maryland, College Park. It began in 1910 as ''The Triangle'' and became known as ''The Diamondback'' in 1921. ''The Diamondback'' was initially published a ...

'', the school's independent student newspaper. He joined SDX, now the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

, and was inducted into

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

Career

Gannett

Ceppos's first full-time professional position was at the ''

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. Headquartered at 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's ...

'', where he was reporter, assistant city editor, and night city editor between 1969 and 1972.

Knight-Ridder

In 1972, he moved to the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

'', where he was assistant city editor, their first national foreign editor, and assistant managing editor for news before moving to the ''San Jose Mercury News'' in 1981, where he was associate editor, managing editor, senior vice president, and executive editor. While managing editor, the newspaper won two

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

s. He also initiated a

Vietnamese language Vietnamese () is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language Speech, spoken primarily in Vietnam where it is the official language. It belongs to the Vietic languages, Vietic subgroup of the Austroasiatic language family. Vietnamese is s ...

edition, '' Viet Mercury'', and a

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

edition, ''Nuevo Mundo''. He supported digital initiatives at a print journalism company and successfully championed diversity hiring. In 1999, he became vice president for news at

Knight-Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

, then the second-largest newspaper chain in the United States. He left the position in 2005.

University of Nevada – Reno

From 2008 to 2011, Ceppos was dean and professor at the Reynolds School in Journalism at the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

, holding the Fred W. Smith Chair in Journalism. As incoming dean, he commissioned a large banner with the words of the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

to hang in the school. He continued his professional goals by increasing diversity hiring and changing the curriculum to require cross-platform training for all students.

Louisiana State University

In July 2011, Ceppos became dean and William B. Dickinson Distinguished Professor at the Manship School of Mass Communication at

. He repeated his display of the

and moved the curriculum toward online media. He taught media ethics. He stepped down as dean at the end of the 2017–2018 academic year. He continued to teach "Media Writing," "Media Management," and "Media Ethics and Social Responsibility." Ceppos died at his home in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

on July 29, 2022.

Other work

Ceppos was a consultant with Leading Edge Associates, a management consulting firm in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, from 2006 to 2009. In 2007, he was a fellow in media ethics at the

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics is a department at Jesuit Santa Clara University. It was created by Manuel Velasquez, a faculty member in the School of Business, and funded by early Apple Inc. investor Mike Markkula and his wife, Linda Mark ...

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

Controversies

Dark alliance

, a reporter for ''

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' hired in 1987 while Ceppos was executive editor, conducted a year-long investigation of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

dealing in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, which was published in ''

'' in three segments between August 18 and August 20, 1996, under the title "Dark Alliance." Initial praise for the series was followed by criticism from major media outlets, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

''. After initially defending the series, Ceppos commissioned an internal review. At the end of March 1997, Ceppos told Webb that he was going to publish the internal review findings in a column, which appeared on May 11, 1997. Ceppos took personal responsibility for the series and its flaws in his opening sentence, writing, "Few things in life are harder than owning up to one's shortcomings, but I need to tell you about an important case in which I believe that we fell short of my standards for the ''Mercury News''." In the column, Ceppos continued to defend parts of the series, writing that it had "solidly documented" that the drug ring described in the series did have connections with the

and sold large quantities of cocaine in inner-city Los Angeles. But, Ceppos wrote, the series "did not meet our standards" in four areas. 1) It presented only one interpretation of conflicting evidence and in one case "did not include information that contradicted a central assertion of the series." 2) The series' estimates of the money involved was presented as fact instead of an estimate. 3) The series oversimplified how the

crack epidemic The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in several social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Americ ...

grew. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics." Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. His column concluded, asking, "How did these shortcomings occur? ... I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. Several people here share that burden ... But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine." Ceppos's mea culpa won praise in the journalism profession. He was awarded, along with two others, the first Ethics in Journalism award from the

for "superior ethical conduct." Critics suggested Ceppos had caved to outside pressure, including that of the government and its agencies. The 2014 film '' Kill the Messenger'' was based on the controversy, with

Oliver Platt Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his work on stage and screen. He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Tony Award. Following his acting deb ...

playing Ceppos. Opinions about the movie paralleled those about the original series. There was controversy as to whether Ceppos had been contacted or not regarding the factual aspects of the movie. Webb was found dead in his

Carmichael, California Carmichael is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, California, United States. It is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated suburb in the Sacramento metropolitan area, Greater Sacramento metropolitan ...

home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. His death was ruled a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by the

Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacrament ...

coroner's office.

Pre-publication review

In August 1998 a financial story by Chris Schmitt was shared in its entirety with NASDAQ for fact-checking prior to publication. Changes were made prior to publication. This departure from standard journalism practice raised ethical questions regarding the relationship between journalists and the subjects they cover, who are not assumed to have control over the content of publication.

Media

Publications

* Jerry Ceppos
"Hope to be found in optimism of the young," The.Advocate.Com, April 6, 2020.

Jerry Ceppos, John Maxwell, and Martin Johnson. "How journalists can win back Americans' trust," mercurynews.com, August 24, 2018.

Jerry Ceppos, John Maxwell, and Martin Johnson. "How journalists can win back Americans' trust," eastbaytimes.com, August 24, 2018.

Jerry Ceppos, "Chapter Four: How We Got Here and What It Means for New Orleans News Consumers," ''News Evolution or Revolution?: The Future of Print Journalism in the Digital Age'' by Andrea Miller and Amy Reynolds, (Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 2014)

Jerry Ceppos, "Foreword," ''Moral Reasoning for Journalists,'' by Steve Knowlton and Bill Reader, 2nd revised edition, 2009.

Arthur S. Hayes, Jane B. Singer and Jerry Ceppos, “Shifting Roles, Enduring Values: The Credible Journalist in a Digital Age,” ''Journal of Mass Media Ethics'', 22:(4), 262–279, 2007.

Jerry Ceppos, "A plea from minority journalists: give us some feedback." ''American Journalism Review'', vol. 16, no. 7, 1994, p. 16+. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', Accessed 8 June 2020.

Electronic media

Ceppos: Post-Deanship. May 20, 2018.

Words of Encouragement from Former Dean Jerry Ceppos, March 28, 2020.

Celebrating Dean Jerry Ceppos. May 11, 2018.

Manship Minute: Jerry Ceppos, March 12, 2018.

WRKF. June 20, 2017.

Dean Ceppos Portrayed in New Film "Kill the Messenger, October 11, 2014.

KLSU Bracket Challenge, March 19, 2014.

Jerry Ceppos on J-School. September 7, 2011.

The 1964 Daisy Girl Advertisement. C-SPAN. April 6, October 24, 2011.

The Daily Reveille: Interview with Jerry Ceppos. August 24, 2011.

Fairness in Journalism, American Society of Newspaper Editors. C-SPAN. April 6, 2001.

Media Credibility, American Society of Newspaper Editors. C-SPAN. April 1, 1998.

Memberships and honors

* Advisory board, LSU Museum * Member and past president, Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications * Fellow, Society of Professional Journalists, 2016 * Judge,

Scripps Howard Foundation The Scripps Howard Fund is a public charity that supports philanthropic causes important to the E. W. Scripps Company, an American media conglomerate which owns television stations, cable television networks, and other media outlets. The Fund's m ...

Awards, 2016 * Judge, Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, 2013–2019 * Advisory board,

National Center on Disability and Journalism The National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) provides resources and support to journalists and communications professionals covering disability issues. The center is headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Com ...

, 2013–2019 * Recipient, Carr Van Anda Award for Enduring Contributions to Journalism, Ohio University, 2006 * Judge, ASNE Awards, 2004, 2005 * Recipient, ASJMC Gerald M. Sass Distinguished Service Award, 2002 * President, Associated Press Managing Editors, 2000 * Recipient, Ethics in Journalism Award,

, 1997 * Recipient, Anti-Defamation League Torch of Liberty Award, 1997 * Juror,

, 1997 * Former member, Board of Visitors,

Philip Merrill College of Journalism The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1947 and was named after newspaper editor Philip Merrill in 2001. The school has about 550 undergra ...

References

External links

Howard. Finberg, "Journalism professionals, academics debate the value of research," poynter.org, June 27, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceppos, Jerome 1946 births 2022 deaths American newspaper editors American newspaper reporters and correspondents University System of Maryland alumni Journalists from Washington, D.C.