Roy Parker Jr., 1930-2013

Folks,

Roy Parker Jr. — founding editor of The Fayetteville Times,1952 graduate of the School of Journalism and N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame inductee in 1999 — died yesterday (April 3). I found out right before class last night via a 6 o’clock phone call from Seth Effron '74, who picked it up from a Twitter post. Roy would like that!

At a time when we are thinking about the future strategy of JOMC and considering our role in the 21st century, I wanted, very briefly, to remember Roy as an example of what is exceptional and forward-thinking about North Carolina journalism and the type of graduates this school has produced for the past century.

In the 1970s and 1980s, dozens of us recently minted JOMC alumni were lucky enough to land reporting and editing jobs at The Times, one of the best finishing schools ever because Roy brought to this new daily newspaper (established in 1973 by the owners of The Fayetteville Observer) a passion and professionalism that we should strive to instill in all our graduates today.  Over the 20 plus years of its life, The Times (circulation 50,000 at its peak) was a Pulitzer finalist for its investigative journalism. And its Features section shared the national Penney-Missouri award for lifestyle sections three times from 1976-1978 with the likes of The New York Times, St. Pete Times and Washington Post. In each of those three years, the section was edited by a recently minted JOMC grad — all of them went on to pursue professional success at the aforementioned national papers.

Long before the "uses and gratifications theory" had been well articulated in the academy – and at a time when crusty newspaper editors were debating the merits of a feature “lede” vs. the inverted AP pyramid structure – Roy had a much simpler formula for crafting a good news story that people would want to read. Whenever he "suggested" a story to a new reporter, he would ask, "Why should people care about his story?"

Long before there was computer-assisted, data-based reporting, Roy, who had covered Washington for The N&O, was famous for combing through "dry" government statistics and coming up with the trend story and editorial column no one else had found.

And long before it was fashionable to talk about journalists being “multi-media storytellers,” Roy taught those of us who worked for him how to craft a "fun" story on everything from "how to grow great camellias" to "the military history of the Highland Scots as it relates to Fort Bragg." Even Roy would admit that last story was a stretch, but he told it with a wink that readers loved – and all who read it learned something they didn't know previously.

I've been very fortunate to have a number of legendary mentors and teachers in my almost four decades in this business. But none was more instrumental in shaping the journalist and business professional I became. He took the timeless lessons he learned at this school, perfected and updated them over 50 years in the business, and shared them with generations of journalists who worked with him. To my mind, he epitomized what we should aspire for in our graduates today — lifelong learners and lovers of this wonderful profession.

Thanks for indulging me – and letting me acknowledge our inspiring past and promising future, as represented by Roy Parker, Hussman School alum.

Penny