Curtis Daniel MacDougall (1903 - 1985) was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, teacher and writer.

Background

Curtis Daniel MacDougall was born on February 11, 1903, in

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac United States metrop ...

. He obtained a BA in English from Ripon College in 1923 and a Master's degree in journalism from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1926). In 1933, he received his PhD in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Career

MacDougall joined the Northwestern faculty in 1935.

Journalist

MacDougall worked for the ''

St. Louis Star-Times The ''St. Louis Star-Times'' was a newspaper published in St. Louis. It was founded as ''The St. Louis Sunday Sayings'' in 1884. The newspaper ended in 1951 when it was purchased by the ''St. Louis Post Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' ...

'' and

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

. He also edited the ''Evanston Daily News'' and the '' Chicago Sun''. In 1936, MacDougall published an editorial that criticized the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

. He published a reply from FBI director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...

. The FBI proceeded to surveil MacDougal for 35 years.

Writer

From 1939 to 1942, MacDougall worked for the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...

and edited writers included Saul Bellow and

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral his ...

Professor

In 1942, MacDougall began teaching at Northwestern University for thirty years through 1971. His works appear below.

Politician

In 1944, MacDougall ran for the Illinois 10th District in the US Congress, was arrested for illegally distributing political literature, and lost the election. In 1948, he ran for US Senate (presumably on the ticket of the Progressive Party, given his 1965 history of the Wallace campaign, ''Gideon's Army''), and lost. In 1970, he ran in the 13th District primary for US Congress on the Democratic ticket and lost.

Personal life and death

MacDougal married Genevieve; they had five children, of whom three survived him. Students of Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University called him "Doctor Mac." MacDougal was working on the ninth edition of ''Interpreting Reporting'' when he died. Curtis Daniel MacDougall died age 82 on November 10, 1985, following surgery.

Honors, awards

* 1965: Honorary

Litt.D. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from Columbia College

Legacy

The Newberry independent research library in Chicago houses the Curtis MacDougall Papers.

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

offers a Curtis D. MacDougall Scholarship. Roosevelt University offers a "Curtis D. MacDougall Tuition Scholarship."

Works

MacDougall was the author of the influential book ''Interpretative Reporting'' (1938), which has been widely cited. William David Sloan has commented that "his many books, articles, and speeches helped set the tone and added to the debate surrounding

journalism education A journalism school is a school or department, usually part of an established university, where journalists are trained. 'J-School' is an increasingly used term for a journalism department at a school or college. Journalists in most parts of th ...

for a half century." He authored two skeptical works ''Hoaxes'' (1958) and ''Superstition and the Press'' (1983), the latter which his family considered his chief work. His book on

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

es has been described as a classic on the subject. MacDougall defined a hoax as "a deliberately concocted untruth made to masquerade as truth." ;Books The Library of Congress catalog contains the following: * ''College course in reporting for beginners'' (1932) * ''Teachers' manual of exercises, suggestions and bibliographical notations to be used in connection with Interpretative reporting'' (1938) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1968) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1972) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1977) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1982) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1987) * ''Hoaxes'' (1940) ** ''Hoaxes'' (1958) * ''Newsroom problems and policies'' (1941) ** ''Newsroom problems and policies'' (1963) * ''Covering the courts'' (1946) * ''Understanding public opinion'' (1952) ** ''Understanding public opinion'' (1966) * ''Greater dead than alive'' (1963) * ''Press and its problems'' (1964) *''Gideon's Army'' (3 volumes) (1965) * ''Principles of editorial writing'' (1973) * ''Superstition and the press'' (1983) ;Books edited * ''Reporters report reporters'' (1968) ;Articles, Pamphlets, Speeches, Letters * "Newspaper Hoaxes," ''Times-Index'' (1935) * Letter to

W.E.B. DuBois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

(28 September 1948) * "Schools of Journalism Are Being Ruined" (1972)

References

External links

Biography, Northwestern University library
Curtis MacDougall Papers
a
the Newberry Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDougall, Curtis D. 1903 births 1985 deaths American male journalists American skeptics Journalists from Wisconsin 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American journalists