John Hughes (editor)
Encyclopedia
R. John Hughes was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University
, and he won the Pulitzer Prize
for his coverage of Indonesia
and the Overseas Press Club
Award for an investigation into the international narcotics traffic. He is a former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors
. Hughes has written two books and writes a nationally-syndicated column for The Christian Science Monitor
.
, Wales
, the only child of Evan and Dellis May Hughes. He was raised in London
and attended the Ancient Literary Company Trade School.
During World War II
, both of Hughes’ parents contributed to the war effort – his father was drafted into the British Army
and served in North Africa
for three years. His mother was conscripted into the Government Post Office during that time as well. Following the war, the entire family moved to South Africa.
. Alex Hammond, his first editor, sent him to business school to learn shorthand
. Hughes then worked as a reporter for three years before returning to London, where he worked on Fleet Street
at a news agency. He eventually was hired by the London-based The Daily Mirror
. Shortly after accepting that position, The Natal Mercury contacted Hughes and asked him to come back to be the Chief of the State Capital Bureau. He accepted. He later became a stringer and a freelance
writer
for a number of papers in London and The Christian Science Monitor in Boston.
In 1955, at the age of 25, Hughes moved to America
and began working in Boston
for The Christian Science Monitor. About 18 months later he was sent back to South Africa
as a correspondent for The Monitor. He filled that position for six years. Hughes was named the Nibman Fellow at Harvard University
the following year. He then worked as an assistant foreign editor in Boston. His next assignment from The Monitor sent him to be a foreign correspondent in Asia
for six years. It was during this time that he won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
in 1967 for his thorough reporting of the attempted Communist coup in Indonesia in 1965
and the purge that followed in 1965-66.
His achievements were readily recognized by The Christian Science Monitor, and he was promoted to Managing Editor, a position which he held for nine years from 1970–1979, until he was promoted to Editor and Manager. During his three year stint as Editor and Manager, Hughes became interested in owning his own newspaper.
His initial purchase was a weekly paper in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, called the Cape Cod Oracle, based in Orleans. Hughes Newspapers, Inc. eventually included five weekly newspapers. The company purchased the Cape Cod News in Hyannis from Frank Fallaci and founded the Yarmouth Sun and Dennis Bulletin in the towns of Dennis and Yarmouth. Hughes Newspapers also published the Lower Cape Shoppers Guide. Hughes sold the newspapers to MPG Communications in Plymouth, owned by the G.W. Prescott Co. in Quincy, in the mid-1980s.
During the same time period, Hughes received a call from one of Ronald Reagan
’s advisors, asking Hughes what Reagan should say in his acceptance speech, should he be elected. Hughes offered some ideas, which were remembered and used. Shortly after Reagan was elected, Hughes was asked to move to Washington D.C. to serve in Reagan’s administration from 1981-1985.
He initially served as the Associate Director of the United States Information Agency
, and was later appointed as the director of the Voice of America
. While serving in that capacity, he received a phone call from George Shultz inviting Hughes to be the spokesmen for the State Department
and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
.
Following four years in Washington D.C., Hughes returned to Massachusetts where his newspapers were flourishing. He resumed his control of the companies, but eventually sold them when neither of his children wanted to fill his position.
Hughes was then asked by The Christian Science Monitor to be in charge of a shortwave
radio international program. He did this for a few years and then bought a newspaper in Maine
with a friend of his who worked at The Washington Post
. The partnership was unsuccessful and short-lived, resulting in the paper being resold, which enabled Hughes to accept further administrative appointments.
In 1991 he was asked to chair President George H. W. Bush
’s bipartisan Task Force on the future of US government international broadcasting. In 1992 he was appointed Chairman of a joint Presidential-Congressional Commission on Broadcasting to the People’s Republic of China. In 1993, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
appointed Hughes to its Advisory Commission on Public Broadcasting to the World.
Hughes then accepted an offer from Brigham Young University
(BYU) to begin the International Media Study Program. In 1995, Boutros Boutros Ghali, the Secretary General of the United Nations, requested for Hughes to meet with him. During the meeting, Ghali asked if Hughes would be willing to do some work for the United Nations
during the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations. BYU granted Hughes a year leave of absence, and he became the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations.
In 1996, Neal A. Maxwell
called Hughes with concerns about the Deseret News. Maxwell solicited his advice on improving the paper’s circulation. When Hughes returned from the United Nations he began work as a consultant for the Deseret News. Following his counsel, the paper switched its distribution to morning rather than afternoon, which improved circulation. Following the success of this change, the Board of Directors asked Hughes to be the editor of the newspaper. Hughes accepted the position, and became the first non-Mormon
editor of the Deseret News. He filled that position until 2007, at which point he returned to BYU as a Professor in the Communications Department.
Hughes went to South Africa
in 2007 to make a presentation to local media organizations.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and he won the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for his coverage of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and the Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
Award for an investigation into the international narcotics traffic. He is a former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors
American Society of Newspaper Editors
The American Society of News Editors is a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of media-related foundations and training organizations...
. Hughes has written two books and writes a nationally-syndicated column for The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
.
Childhood
Hughes was born on 28 April 1930 in NeathNeath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the only child of Evan and Dellis May Hughes. He was raised in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and attended the Ancient Literary Company Trade School.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, both of Hughes’ parents contributed to the war effort – his father was drafted into the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and served in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
for three years. His mother was conscripted into the Government Post Office during that time as well. Following the war, the entire family moved to South Africa.
Education and career
At the age of 16 Hughes started his first job as a reporter at Natal MercuryThe Mercury (South Africa)
The Mercury is an upmarket English language newspaper owned by Independent News & Media and published in Durban, South Africa.As the most popular English morning newspaper in the region, The Mercury has 269 000 readers .-Content:...
. Alex Hammond, his first editor, sent him to business school to learn shorthand
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
. Hughes then worked as a reporter for three years before returning to London, where he worked on Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
at a news agency. He eventually was hired by the London-based The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
. Shortly after accepting that position, The Natal Mercury contacted Hughes and asked him to come back to be the Chief of the State Capital Bureau. He accepted. He later became a stringer and a freelance
Freelancer
A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are often represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
for a number of papers in London and The Christian Science Monitor in Boston.
In 1955, at the age of 25, Hughes moved to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and began working in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
for The Christian Science Monitor. About 18 months later he was sent back to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
as a correspondent for The Monitor. He filled that position for six years. Hughes was named the Nibman Fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
the following year. He then worked as an assistant foreign editor in Boston. His next assignment from The Monitor sent him to be a foreign correspondent in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
for six years. It was during this time that he won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
in 1967 for his thorough reporting of the attempted Communist coup in Indonesia in 1965
30 September Movement
The Thirtieth of September Movement ) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members who, in the early hours of 1 October 1965, assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d'état. Later that morning, the organization declared that it was in control...
and the purge that followed in 1965-66.
His achievements were readily recognized by The Christian Science Monitor, and he was promoted to Managing Editor, a position which he held for nine years from 1970–1979, until he was promoted to Editor and Manager. During his three year stint as Editor and Manager, Hughes became interested in owning his own newspaper.
His initial purchase was a weekly paper in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, called the Cape Cod Oracle, based in Orleans. Hughes Newspapers, Inc. eventually included five weekly newspapers. The company purchased the Cape Cod News in Hyannis from Frank Fallaci and founded the Yarmouth Sun and Dennis Bulletin in the towns of Dennis and Yarmouth. Hughes Newspapers also published the Lower Cape Shoppers Guide. Hughes sold the newspapers to MPG Communications in Plymouth, owned by the G.W. Prescott Co. in Quincy, in the mid-1980s.
During the same time period, Hughes received a call from one of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
’s advisors, asking Hughes what Reagan should say in his acceptance speech, should he be elected. Hughes offered some ideas, which were remembered and used. Shortly after Reagan was elected, Hughes was asked to move to Washington D.C. to serve in Reagan’s administration from 1981-1985.
He initially served as the Associate Director of the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...
, and was later appointed as the director of the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
. While serving in that capacity, he received a phone call from George Shultz inviting Hughes to be the spokesmen for the State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Public Affairs within the United States Department of State. Typically, the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs is also the official spokesperson of the State Department...
.
Following four years in Washington D.C., Hughes returned to Massachusetts where his newspapers were flourishing. He resumed his control of the companies, but eventually sold them when neither of his children wanted to fill his position.
Hughes was then asked by The Christian Science Monitor to be in charge of a shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
radio international program. He did this for a few years and then bought a newspaper in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
with a friend of his who worked at The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. The partnership was unsuccessful and short-lived, resulting in the paper being resold, which enabled Hughes to accept further administrative appointments.
In 1991 he was asked to chair President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
’s bipartisan Task Force on the future of US government international broadcasting. In 1992 he was appointed Chairman of a joint Presidential-Congressional Commission on Broadcasting to the People’s Republic of China. In 1993, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...
appointed Hughes to its Advisory Commission on Public Broadcasting to the World.
Hughes then accepted an offer from Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
(BYU) to begin the International Media Study Program. In 1995, Boutros Boutros Ghali, the Secretary General of the United Nations, requested for Hughes to meet with him. During the meeting, Ghali asked if Hughes would be willing to do some work for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
during the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations. BYU granted Hughes a year leave of absence, and he became the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations.
In 1996, Neal A. Maxwell
Neal A. Maxwell
Neal Ash Maxwell was an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1981 until his death.-Life:...
called Hughes with concerns about the Deseret News. Maxwell solicited his advice on improving the paper’s circulation. When Hughes returned from the United Nations he began work as a consultant for the Deseret News. Following his counsel, the paper switched its distribution to morning rather than afternoon, which improved circulation. Following the success of this change, the Board of Directors asked Hughes to be the editor of the newspaper. Hughes accepted the position, and became the first non-Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
editor of the Deseret News. He filled that position until 2007, at which point he returned to BYU as a Professor in the Communications Department.
Hughes went to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 2007 to make a presentation to local media organizations.