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 ...

'', and for his centennial history of that paper. Since the year after his death, Columbia School of Journalism 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 ( that is, from Austria-Hungary) immigrant father and a storekeeper mother. Sometime after his birth, the family moved from the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally ...

of New York City to the

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

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 publ ...

''. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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 The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...

. 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 issue ...

'', 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 The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Pur ...

. 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 his ...

; a later edition by Pete Hamill.

Pulitzer Prize

Berger won the annual Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting 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 in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 20 ...

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 Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

the fourth game of the

1941 World Series The 1941 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall. The name " Subway Series" arose for a World Series play ...

. The Meyer Berger Award for outstanding human-interest journalism is named after him. ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and ...

'' 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 Columbia School of Journalism – with transcript of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1949 article by Berger, including its formal submission for the Prize *

Meyer Berger at

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