"Trustees for the Public: 200 Years of Missouri Newspapers," a documentary video produced by the Missouri Press Association, was honored Oct. 3, with a regional Emmy award by the Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). Awards were presented in St. Louis at the 33rd Annual Mid-America Emmy Gala.
Accepting the award for the category Documentary – Historical were Beth Pike, co-director, producer and writer; Stephen Hudnell, co-director, videographer and editor; and Doug Crews, executive director of the press association, all of Columbia.
The MPA documentary competed against five other videos whose subjects included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Abraham Lincoln, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
The hour-long video was produced in 2008 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first newspaper published in Missouri, and it coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Missouri School of Journalism. MPA publishers more than a century ago played instrumental roles in the founding of the School of Journalism, the world’s first.
The newspaper documentary is a product of more than three years and more than 70 video interviews of Missouri publishers and editors. Scott Charton, Columbia, a former Associated Press correspondent, served as advising producer on the project. Original music was composed by Sandra M. Levy Smith, St. Louis. Clyde Ruffin, Columbia, was the narrator.
The video spotlights journalists who practiced their craft in Missouri, including Joseph Charless (Missouri’s first publisher), Mark Twain, Eugene Field, Joseph Pulitzer, Ernest Hemingway, Walter Williams and many others.
Current publishers and editors of Missouri newspapers recount stories of their own careers, from the days of "hot type" printing, newspaper carriers hawking copies on street corners, to today’s modern newsrooms, high-speed offset presses and the newspapers’ use of the Internet.
A history of the press would not be complete without reviewing The Journalist’s Creed, written by Dean Walter Williams, founder of the Missouri School of Journalism. Ron Powers, a native of Hannibal, award-winning journalist and Missouri graduate, reads the Creed as he honors his school and his profession.
The Mid-America chapter of NATAS began honoring outstanding achievement in a three-state region (portions of Illinois, Arkansas and Missouri) with local Emmy awards in 1976. Judging of this year’s entries was done by chapters in the Pacific Southwest, Northern California, Denver, Michigan, Ohio Valley and New England.
If you are interested in purchasing the video, please visit the MPA store.