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Ideas & Media

Journalists, publishers, scholars, teachers and preachers who shaped what Americans knew and believed.

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Oprah Winfrey b. 1954Journalism & Mass MediaMedia executive and talk show host who built a multimedia empire and became one of the most influential women in the world.Billy Graham 1918–2018Religion & Religious MovementsEvangelist whose mass crusades, media reach, and presidential relationships made him a defining figure in modern American Protestantism.Edward R. Murrow 1908–1965Journalism & Mass MediaBroadcast journalist whose reporting from London during WWII and confrontation with McCarthy set journalistic standards.Walter Cronkite 1916–2009Journalism & Mass MediaCBS Evening News anchor known as the most trusted man in America during a pivotal era of broadcast journalism.Rush Limbaugh 1951–2021Journalism & Mass MediaRadio host who built the national conservative talk format and reshaped American political broadcasting.Roger Ebert 1942–2013Scholars & Public IntellectualsThe first film critic to win a Pulitzer, half of the most famous thumbs in America, and a writer who kept working after cancer took his voice.David McCullough 1933–2022Scholars & Public IntellectualsNarrative historian of Truman, John Adams and the Brooklyn BridgeBarbara Walters 1929–2022Journalism & Mass MediaPioneering broadcast journalist who became the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program.Jerry Falwell 1933–2007Religion & Religious MovementsPastor and political organizer who helped make conservative evangelicalism a major Republican constituency.Pat Robertson 1930–2023Religion & Religious MovementsFounded the Christian Broadcasting Network and, after a failed 1988 presidential run, the Christian Coalition.Roger Ailes 1940–2017Journalism & Mass MediaTelevision executive who created Fox News and transformed partisan cable news and conservative politics.Oral Roberts 1918–2009Religion & Religious MovementsMoved Pentecostal healing services from the revival tent onto national television, and built a university on the proceeds.Tom Brokaw b. 1940Journalism & Mass MediaNBC Nightly News anchor who chronicled the Greatest Generation and shaped network news for two decades.Dan Rather b. 1931Journalism & Mass MediaCBS Evening News anchor known for his aggressive reporting and long career in broadcast journalism.Fulton J. Sheen 1895–1979Religion & Religious MovementsCatholic bishop whose radio and television programs made him one of America’s first major religious media personalities.Henry Louis Gates Jr. b. 1950Scholars & Public IntellectualsLiterary critic and Harvard professor who has shaped African American studies and popularized genealogy.Joel Osteen b. 1963Religion & Religious MovementsBuilt his father's Houston church into the largest congregation in the United States and preached it to millions on television.Peter Jennings 1938–2005Journalism & Mass MediaABC World News Tonight anchor whose calm authority made him one of the most trusted voices in news.Aimee Semple McPherson 1890–1944Religion & Religious MovementsEvangelist and media innovator who founded the Foursquare Church and pioneered religious broadcasting and celebrity ministry.Tucker Carlson b. 1969Journalism & Mass MediaCable news host turned independent broadcaster with wide influence on American right-wing commentary.Christiane Amanpour b. 1958Journalism & Mass MediaCNN chief international correspondent who has covered wars and crises from the Balkans to the Middle East.Rachel Maddow b. 1973Journalism & Mass MediaMSNBC host and author whose in-depth political analysis has made her a leading progressive voice.Anderson Cooper b. 1967Journalism & Mass MediaCNN anchor and correspondent known for his international reporting and coverage of major disasters and conflicts.Katie Couric b. 1957Journalism & Mass MediaFirst woman to solo anchor a major network evening newscast and pioneering morning television host.Wolf Blitzer b. 1948Journalism & Mass MediaCNN anchor whose coverage of the Gulf War and political events made him a household name.Dorothy Thompson 1893–1961Journalism & Mass MediaColumnist and radio broadcaster who was one of the most influential women in American media.Charles Kuralt 1934–1997Journalism & Mass MediaCBS journalist whose On the Road segments celebrated the overlooked people and places of America.