Roderick W. Beaton (April 16, 1923July 5, 2002) was an American journalist and

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...

executive. He began writing for

United Press International 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 20t ...

in 1948, then served as its president 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 especial ...

from 1972 to 1982. He oversaw the changeover from delivering the news via

teleprinter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Init ...

to a datanews receiver, relocating the company's communications center from New York to Dallas, and the upgrade of its receivers for news, photos and audio. He was a graduate of

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and received the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

for his work in press relations.

Early life

Roderick W. Beaton was born on April 16, 1923, in

Escalon, California Escalon (Spanish: ''Escalón'', meaning "Step") is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 7,132 at the 2010 census, up from 5,963 at the 2000 census. Escalon is a Spanish word meaning "stepping stones." The na ...

. His father Philip C. Beaton, was the executive editor of the '' Stockton Record''. Beaton served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as a correspondent for the

Pacific Ocean theater of World War II The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. He later graduated from the

with a degree in journalism.;

Journalism career

Beaton was hired by

(UPI) in San Francisco as a reporter and editor in 1948. He once stated that he was on route to an interview with

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, when an acquaintance convinced him to apply at UPI instead. Beaton was soon promoted to manager of the

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

bureau, and then became the regional business representative for Los Angeles. He later worked as the division manager for the Southeastern United States, and then in the Midwest, and then to New York City in 1962 as the company's vice president and general business manager. In 1965, he began overseeing UPI operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, via the UPI bureau in London. He resumed to his role as vice president and general manager in New York in 1969. Beaton was promoted to president and

of UPI on April 28, 1972. He oversaw the changeover from delivering the news via a 60-word-per-minute

to a 1,200-word-per-minute datanews receiver. He also had the UPI communications center relocated from New York to Dallas, Texas, and upgraded its receivers for news, photos and audio. He retired from UPI on September 1, 1982.

Honors and awards

Beaton received the Commander's Cross of the

for his work in press relations, and the

Carr Van Anda Carr Vattal Van Anda (December 2, 1864 – January 29, 1945) was the managing editor of ''The New York Times'' under Adolph Ochs, from 1904 to 1932. Biography Van Anda was born in Georgetown, Ohio to Frederick Van Anda and Mariah Davis. He m ...

Award from

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

for contributions to journalism.

Personal life

Beaton was married to Evelyn Miller from 1945 until her death in 2001. They had one son and one daughter. Beaton died from heart failure in

Sonoma, California Sonoma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma's p ...

, on July 5, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, Rod 1923 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American journalists American chief executives in the media industry American male journalists American newspaper reporters and correspondents Military personnel from California News agency founders People from Escalon, California United Press International people United States Navy personnel of World War II University of California, Berkeley alumni