Kent Cooper (March 22, 1880 – January 31, 1965) served with the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
(AP) for 41 years, last as executive director.
Background
Kent Cooper was born on March 22, 1880, in
Columbus, Indiana
Columbus () is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The city is known for its architectural significance, having commissioned noted works of modern architect ...
; his father was
Democratic U.S. Congressman George W. Cooper.
[
]
Career
His father's early death led Cooper to turn his after-school job as reporter for a local newspaper into a full-time job. He became a reporter for the ''Indianapolis Press'' newspaper. He joined the Scripps-McRae Press Association (later
United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
), established his own news agency, and then returned to Scripps-McRae in a buy-out.
In 1910,
Melville Stone, editor of the Associated Press, hired him as traveling inspector. In 1912, he was promoted to chief of traffic. In 1920, he was promoted to assistant general manager.
In 1925, he became general manager.
In the late 1920s, Cooper hired AP's first class of women reporters, including
Marguerite Young
Marguerite Vivian Young (August 26, 1908 – November 17, 1995) was an American novelist and academic. She is best known for her novel ''Miss MacIntosh, My Darling''. In her later years, she was known for teaching creative writing and as ...
, who later, as Washington bureau chief for the ''
Daily Worker
The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...
'', would introduce Soviet spy
Hede Massing
Hede Tune Massing, née "Hedwig Tune" (also "Hede Eisler," "Hede Gumperz," and "Redhead") (6 January 1900 – 8 March 1981), was an Austrian actress in Vienna and Berlin, communist, and Soviet Union, Soviet intelligence operative in Europe and th ...
to American diplomat
Noel Field.
[
]
Innovations introduced under his stewardship include use of the first high-speed telegraph printing machines, use of
teletype
A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations.
Init ...
(instead of
Morse Code
Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
), and introduction of a photograph wire service (by 1935, known as World Wide Photos).
By 1929, he had also opened bureaus in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, and
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.
During his 41 years with AP, Cooper's positions included general manager (1925–1943) and finally executive director.
Personal and death
In 1920, Cooper married Marian Rothwell; they divorced in 1940.
On January 31, 1965, he died in
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...
. He is buried in
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the cemetery, final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground of the ...
,
Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, New York, Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States.
The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about ...
.
Legacy
Cooper Glacier in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
is named for him.
Awards
Cooper received honorary degrees from:
*
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
in 1941
*
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
in 1947
*
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
in 1948
Works
Cooper coined the term "the right to know" with publication of his book ''The Right to Know'' (1956).
Books:
* ''Barriers Down'' (1942)
* ''
Anna Zenger, Mother of Freedom'' (1946)
* ''The Minnesota Strip'' (1949)
* ''The Right to Know'' (1956)
* ''Kent Cooper and the Associated Press: An Autobiography'' (New York: Random House, 1958)
Articles:
* "The Future of the AP" (December 1943)
[
]
See also
*
United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
*
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
*
Marguerite Young
Marguerite Vivian Young (August 26, 1908 – November 17, 1995) was an American novelist and academic. She is best known for her novel ''Miss MacIntosh, My Darling''. In her later years, she was known for teaching creative writing and as ...
References
Further reading
*Allen, G. (2023). ''Mr. Associated Press: Kent Cooper and the Twentieth-Century World of News''. United States: University of Illinois Press.
External links
*
1880 births
1965 deaths
American male journalists
Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Associated Press people
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