Jack Foster (1906–1978) was a prominent 20th-century

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 ...

in the

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

region. His career as a journalist spanned 43 years with Scripps-Howard newspapers in Cleveland, New York City, and Denver. He was the editor of the ''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

''.

Early life and education

He was born in 1906 in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

. His father, John W. Foster (died 1944), was a career-long journalist and editor for the

Scripps-Howard The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

newspapers. He worked for the ''

Cleveland Press The ''Cleveland Press'' was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis B. Seltzer. Known for many years as one of the country's most in ...

'', ''

Birmingham Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

'', and beginning in 1931 the ''

New York World-Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

''.

Career

He performed odd jobs for the

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

as a boy, and began his career with

at the age of 15, writing sports articles for the ''

''. His father was editor of the paper. When Scripps-Howard bought the ''

'' in 1926, Foster was transferred to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he worked for the paper as a

reporter 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 ...

, feature writer, and

book reviewer __NOTOC__ A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly revie ...

. Three years later, he was transferred to the ''

New York Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

'', where he worked as the

radio edit In music, a radio edit or radio mix is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may als ...

or. In 1931 he was promoted to assistant city editor. He contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1933, and was unable to resume his career until 1937, when he became a feature writer for the ''

''. He was later promoted to assistant

executive editor Executive (Exe (disambiguation), exe., Exec (disambiguation), exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (exec ...

. While at the ''New York World-Telegram'', Foster met and married Frances Magnum, who was the paper's

fashion editor A fashion editor is a person that supervises the process of creating, developing and presenting content for the fashion department of a magazine, Web site, newspaper or television program. The work of a fashion editor can be quite varied and may h ...

February 10, 1960 cover of the Rocky Mountain News

In 1940 the couple moved to Denver, where Foster assumed the reins of the ''Rocky Mountain News'' as editor and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. At that time, the ''News'' faced stiff competition from its rival Denver newspaper, ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'', and was in danger of losing the fight. In 1942 Foster made a bold move to save the dying paper. After convincing the president of Scripps-Howard, Roy W. Howard, of the soundness of the plan, Foster changed the format of the paper from the traditional

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

to a tabloid,

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

-style format. The new format debuted on April 13, 1942, and is largely credited with saving the paper. At the same time, Foster introduced another novel idea, the

advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are w ...

. The Molly Mayfield column was the first advice column of its kind, pre-dating

Ann Landers Ann Landers was a pen name created by ''Chicago Sun-Times'' advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer (July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002) in 1955. For 56 years, the Ask Ann Landers syndicated ad ...

and

Dear Abby Dear Abby is an American advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren" and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name. History According to Pauline ...

. Foster's wife Frances penned the column under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

. Under his guidance, the ''News'' moved from a paper on the brink of closing. Foster retired from the ''Rocky Mountain News'' at the end of 1970.

Death

He died January 14, 1978 at the age of 71. His correspondence with

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, as well as

Roy W. Howard Roy W. Howard (1883–1964) was an American newspaperman with a long association with E. W. Scripps Company. He was president of E. W. Scripps Company and the United Press, and chairman of Scripps Howard, Scripps Howard Newspapers. He began his n ...

and

Jack R. Howard Jack Rohe Howard (August 31, 1910 – March 22, 1998) was an American broadcasting executive. He was president of the E. W. Scripps Company from 1953 to 1976.Rohde, David (March 23, 1998)Jack R. Howard, 87, Broadcasting Executive''The New York Ti ...

of Scripps-Howard News Service are held at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

References

External links

Jack Foster
Denver Library (photograph)
Frances Foster
Denver Library (photograph) {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Jack American male journalists 1906 births 1978 deaths People from St. Joseph, Missouri 20th-century American journalists