WSU Journalism Prof. Burns passed away Sept. 7...
Benjamin J. Burns
Benjamin J. Burns, a newspaperman and professor who founded an institute to promote media diversity and was a mentor and inspiration to journalists from coast to coast, died Friday at his Grosse Pointe, Michigan home.
Burns, who was executive editor of The Detroit News, then the nation's sixth-largest newspaper, was 72. He was diagnosed the week before with acute myeloid leukemia, and elected to forego aggressive treatment.
"This is the reality for me, my children and my beautiful wife," he wrote in a posting on the Internet a few days ago. "We have listened to doctors at length and reviewed the options … but my body will not wage a war it cannot win. I want to be with my family, at home, surrounded by the people and dogs I love."
Burns was born in Detroit on May 30, 1940, but grew up on a farm in rural Memphis, Michigan. He earned BA and MA degrees from Michigan State University, and was a graduate of the University of Michigan's executive business program.
Though a talented writer, he was best known as an editor, a manager, and a mentor of young journalists. Janet Mandelstam, a former top editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, worked for him at The Detroit News from 1977 to 1983. "It was the wonderful freedom you gave your editors to think creatively, shake things up, follow stories wherever they may lead that set my path for the next couple of decades," she wrote Burns after his diagnosis.
"For me, what made you such a great boss was that rare combination of freedom and support."
Ken Winter, the retired publisher of the Petoskey (Mich.) News-Review, worked with Burns at the Lansing State Journal in the early 1970s. "As a cub reporter, I worked alone with him, benefitting directly from his editing and wisdom," he said, "Ben was a gentle tall giant in my life encouraging me to become who I am today."
Indeed, the one thing most noticeable about Ben Burns was his sparse, 6' 9" frame. Though normally mild-mannered, he would, when confronted by an out-of-control employee, reader, or student, occasionally rise slowly and stand, arms folded, silently confronting the irate person. Jack Lessenberry, who worked with Burns at both the News and Wayne State, noted "I don't think it ever failed to have the desired effect."
"He didn't have to yell at anyone. You automatically wanted to give him what he wanted and be the best you could be," said Lessenberry, now interim head of the Wayne State program Burns had led since 1991.
Burns began his career in journalism at MSU's student newspaper, and went on to become a political reporter for United Press International in Lansing.
Later, he held editing and writing positions at the Lansing State Journal and The Miami Herald. While managing editor in Lansing, he fell in love with and married the city editor, Beverly Hall Burns.
"The company had an anti-nepotism policy, so Beverly went to law school and became one of the top lawyers in Detroit," he told friends. "I was happy to be a kept man by a beautiful woman," he joked. Beverly Burns is the former managing principal of Miller, Canfield.
After Lansing, Ben Burns then became the editor of the Colorado Springs Sun, before joining The Detroit News in 1976. Later, the News's now-defunct parent company, the privately owned Evening News Association, sent him to New Jersey, where he was vice president and publisher of Times Graphics, Inc. which published six local newspapers and had a large commercial printing operation. Burns returned to Detroit as executive editor in 1983, where he was being groomed to be the newspaper's publisher before a split in the family resulted in the newspaper's sale to Gannett in 1986.
While executive editor of the News, he worked with Wayne State to found what was at first known as the Journalism Institute for Minorities, to promote diversity in the profession. "There was a clear need to make America's newsrooms, and specifically Michigan's newsrooms, look more like America," he said.
Today, there are scores of institute graduates working across America, one of whom is former Detroit mayor and current city council president Ken Cockrel, Jr.
Subsequently, Burns taught at Wayne State before leaving to become editor and publisher of a short-lived suburban Detroit newspaper group. He was an editor-in-residence at Virginia Tech University before returning to Wayne as director of the journalism program.
Alicia Nails, an attorney and former broadcast journalist who is the current director of the institute he founded, could say only, "Best boss. Ever," when she learned of Ben Burns' final illness.
Burns was also extremely active in professional associations. He was the chair of the Michigan Freedom of Information Committee, a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, a Pulitzer Prize juror, past chair of the Historical Society of Michigan, and the recipient of many journalism and teaching awards, one of which he received just days before his death.
He was the author of a book published earlier this year, The Flying Firsts of Walter Hinton, from the Trans-Atlantic Flight to the Arctic and the Amazon.
Burns was also co-author of the standard McGraw textbook, Michigan Media Law, now in its third year. His entire share of the profits was donated to the minority journalism institute at Wayne State.
In addition to his wife, Burns is survived by daughter Blakely Burns Meyers and husband Paul; granddaughters Emma, Rachel and Grace; daughter Bethany Moir Burns. Her husband A. J. Zottola and daughters Mia and Mari; son Ben J. H. Burns and daughter- in-law Laura, and their son Benjamin Joseph; and his son James C. H. Burns and daughter-in-law Beth, and his two loving dogs, Mac and Harriet.
Visitation is open Sunday, Sept. 9, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 and Monday, Sept. 10, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 at Verheyden Funeral Home.
Funeral service is 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11, at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, 16 Lakeshore Dr, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236. A reception follows at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.
The family requests that anyone wishing to make a donation in his memory consider doing so to Wayne State University's Journalism Institute for Media Diversity. Memorial Gifts can be mailed to:
Fund Office
5475 Woodward
Wayne State University
Detroit Michigan 48202
Please note Journalism Institute for Media Diversity - 066057
The Detroit News, 9/12; WWJ-AM, 9/11
"Former Detroit News editor remembered as journalism titan"
by Oralandar Brand-Williams
Family, friends, colleagues and former journalism students packed Grosse Pointe Memorial Church on Tuesday to honor the life of Ben Burns, the former executive editor and chief administrative editor of The Detroit News and head of Wayne State University's journalism program. Burns, 72, died Friday of acute myeloid leukemia. He was remembered as a journalism titan who helped launch careers from coast to coast and wanted to create newsrooms "less monochromatic and more like America." Veteran journalist Jack Lessenberry said while Burns had two sons and two daughters, he also had "journalism children" scattered across the country. "Ben Burns was a rare creature who was comfortable in his skin, knew who he was and what he stood for, and could take genuine delight in the accomplishments of others," Lessenberry told about 450 mourners at the service. Mr. Burns was credited with creating Wayne State University's Journalism Institute for Minorities, now the Journalism Institute for Media Diversity, in 1985 in an effort to racially and ethnically diversify newsrooms.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120912/METRO/209120351#ixzz26Fu3hjRG
The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Crain's Detroit Business, Grosse Pointe Today, CBS Detroit, Mlive.com, WWJ-AM, WDIV-TV, WXYZ-TV, 9/7; The Oakland Press, WJR-AM, 9/8; Detroit Free Press (Rochelle Riley column), 9/9
Ben Burns: Journalism giant championed diversity, nurtured careers
Ben Burns, former executive editor/chief administrative editor of The Detroit News and head of the journalism program at Wayne State University, died Friday after a long battle with a rare blood disorder. Professor Burns, who was diagnosed in 1997 with acute myeloid leukemia, recently decided to forgo treatment and move home to be with his family. He was 72. Burns, a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, joined the Wayne State faculty in 1991. Before that, he spent 20 years as a journalist. Burns was executive editor at the News 1983-88 and worked for several other newspapers, including the Lansing State Journal and The Miami Herald. After leaving the News, he was editor and publisher of The Macomb Daily and The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak. Burns also was co-author of the book Michigan Media Law. Burns was instrumental in developing the Rosa Parks Foundation and the Journalism Institute for Media Diversity at Wayne State.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120907/OBITUARIES/209070417
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/07/ben-burns-lifelong-journalist-loses-battle-with-leukemia/
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2012/09/colleagues_and_students_rememb.html
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/09/08/news/local_news/doc504b64f59f886704547841.txt