Journalists
56 people, across 4 fields.
Frederick Douglass 1818–1895Civil Rights & Social ReformFormer slave who became a leading abolitionist, orator, and advocate for equal rights.
Mark Twain 1835–1910Literature & DramaAuthor of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, often called the father of American literature.
Edgar Allan Poe 1809–1849Literature & DramaMaster of macabre fiction and poetry who invented the detective story and influenced horror worldwide.
William Randolph Hearst 1863–1951Journalism & Mass MediaPublisher whose sensational newspapers and national media empire wielded immense cultural and political power.
Frederick Law Olmsted 1822–1903Engineering & ArchitectureLandscape architect who designed Central Park and established public parks as essential American civic infrastructure.
Ida B. Wells 1862–1931Civil Rights & Social ReformJournalist and anti-lynching crusader whose investigative reporting exposed racial terror in the South.
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.
Joseph Pulitzer 1847–1911Journalism & Mass MediaPublisher who transformed mass-circulation journalism and endowed the Pulitzer Prizes.
William Lloyd Garrison 1805–1879Civil Rights & Social ReformEditor of The Liberator and founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Rush Limbaugh 1951–2021Journalism & Mass MediaRadio host who built the national conservative talk format and reshaped American political broadcasting.
Upton Sinclair 1878–1968Journalism & Mass MediaNovelist whose expose of Chicago meatpacking spurred federal food and drug inspection laws.
Gloria Steinem b. 1934Civil Rights & Social ReformWriter and organizer who became one of the most visible leaders of second-wave feminism.
Truman Capote 1924–1984Literature & DramaWriter of Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood — an early nonfiction novel.
Bob Woodward b. 1943Journalism & Mass MediaInvestigative reporter whose coverage of Watergate with Carl Bernstein led to President Nixon's resignation.
Horace Greeley 1811–1872Journalism & Mass MediaFounding editor of the New-York Tribune whose editorials shaped antebellum and Reconstruction-era debate.
Barbara Walters 1929–2022Journalism & Mass MediaPioneering broadcast journalist who became the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program.
Tom Wolfe 1930–2018Journalism & Mass MediaNew Journalism pioneer whose The Right Stuff and Bonfire of the Vanities chronicled American culture.
Henry Luce 1898–1967Journalism & Mass MediaMagazine publisher whose Time — Life and Fortune defined mid-century American newsweekly formats.
Hunter S. Thompson 1937–2005Journalism & Mass MediaPioneer of gonzo journalism whose Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas blurred reportage and literature.
Carl Bernstein b. 1944Journalism & Mass MediaInvestigative journalist who, with Bob Woodward, uncovered the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post.
Nellie Bly 1864–1922Journalism & Mass MediaReporter whose undercover asylum investigation and record circumnavigation established investigative reporting.
Joan Didion 1934–2021Journalism & Mass MediaEssayist and novelist whose precise prose captured the anxiety and disillusionment of American life.
Walter Lippmann 1889–1974Journalism & Mass MediaColumnist and political thinker whose work shaped modern journalism and debate over public opinion and democracy.
Norman Mailer 1923–2007Literature & DramaNovelist and journalist who won two Pulitzer Prizes and helped establish literary nonfiction.
H.L. Mencken 1880–1956Journalism & Mass MediaSatirist and cultural critic whose biting prose defined American journalism in the early 20th century.
Jacob Riis 1849–1914Journalism & Mass MediaPhotographer and reporter whose documentation of New York tenements drove housing reform campaigns.Christopher Hitchens 1949–2011Journalism & Mass MediaColumnist, debater and author of god Is Not Great, who broke with the left over Iraq.
Dorothy Day 1897–1980Religion & Religious MovementsCo-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, combining religious faith with radical commitments to peace and the poor.
Emma Goldman 1869–1940Civil Rights & Social ReformAnarchist orator and editor whose free-speech and birth-control agitation led to her 1919 deportation.
Paul Krugman b. 1953Scholars & Public IntellectualsNobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist known for his work on trade and geography.
Ernie Pyle 1900–1945Journalism & Mass MediaWar correspondent whose columns on infantry life defined American reporting of the Second World War.
Ida Tarbell 1857–1944Journalism & Mass MediaInvestigative journalist whose serial history of Standard Oil contributed to the company's antitrust breakup.
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.
Ben Bradlee 1921–2014Journalism & Mass MediaEditor who built The Washington Post into a leading national newspaper and directed its Watergate coverage.
David Halberstam 1934–2007Journalism & Mass MediaPulitzer Prize-winning reporter whose books on Vietnam, civil rights, and sports became American classics.
Malcolm Gladwell b. 1963Journalism & Mass MediaStaff writer for The New Yorker whose books on social science became publishing phenomena.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas 1890–1998Environment, Agriculture & FoodWriter and activist whose advocacy was central to preserving the Florida Everglades as a national ecological treasure.
Peter Jennings 1938–2005Journalism & Mass MediaABC World News Tonight anchor whose calm authority made him one of the most trusted voices in news.
Michael Lewis b. 1960Journalism & Mass MediaAuthor and financial journalist whose Moneyball and The Big Short turned complex topics into bestsellers.
Seymour Hersh b. 1937Journalism & Mass MediaInvestigative reporter who exposed the My Lai massacre and CIA domestic spying operations.
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.
Ta-Nehisi Coates b. 1975Journalism & Mass MediaAtlantic correspondent whose essays on race, including The Case for Reparations, reshaped national discourse.
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.
I.F. Stone 1907–1989Journalism & Mass MediaInvestigative journalist whose self-published newsletter exposed government lies for nearly two decades.
Ronan Farrow b. 1987Journalism & Mass MediaInvestigative reporter whose exposé of Harvey Weinstein helped launch the #MeToo movement.
Nikole Hannah-Jones b. 1976Journalism & Mass MediaPulitzer Prize-winning reporter who created The 1619 Project for The New York Times Magazine.
Helen Thomas 1920–2013Journalism & Mass MediaPioneering White House correspondent who covered every president from Kennedy to Obama.
Wolf Blitzer b. 1948Journalism & Mass MediaCNN anchor whose coverage of the Gulf War and political events made him a household name.
Gay Talese b. 1932Journalism & Mass MediaLiterary journalist whose immersive profiles in Esquire defined New Journalism.
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.