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Jim Bellows
In the 20th century, Jim Bellows who was born on November 12th 1922 was regarded as one of the key figures who have had the largest impact on American journalism in history. Born into wealth, Bellows was sent to a preparatory school after which he attended and graduated from Ohio based Kenyon College in 1944 with a degree in philosophy. He served in the United States Navy during WWII, after which he started working as a journalist for the Columbus Ledger, which is presently known as The Ledger Enquirer, where his skills were recognized early on by the editors, resulting in more challenging assignments.
From 1961 until 1967, Bellows worked for the New York Herald Tribune in the capacity of editor and moved on to the Los Angeles Times where he worked as associate editor from 1967 until 1974. After that he was employed by the Washington Star from 1975 until 1978 in the same function, after which he worked as an editor at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner between 1978 and 1981. From that point on, Bellows moved away from newspapers and took on the job of managing editor for the Entertainment Tonight show that ran between 1981 and 1983, after which he moved on as executive editor for ABS news, which went on from 1983 until 1986. After this he held various positions at several other reputable news stations.
During his work as editor for several of these so called underdog newspapers, Bellows gained the image of being an innovator in his field, challenging the competition through subtle sensation writing. The newspapers that were struggling against large newspapers like The Washington Post were revitalized by his inspiring style of writing, often laced with a dose of humor. His refreshing style of writing gave way to a new type of writer, like Tom Wolfe and Tony Castro, who were both part of the new generation of writers that this change brought forth, and there were many more that followed.
His memoires, called: The last Editor were adapted into a PBS documentary that tells the tale of Bellows battle with the large newspapers, which were the main news source at that point in time. During his life, Jim Bellows was responsible for jump starting many careers of starting journalists from that time.
Jim Bellows passed away in Santa Monica, where he was committed to a nursing home, suffering from Alzheimer's disease on March 6 of 2009.
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