W. Davis "Buzz" Merritt Jr. was editor of The Wichita Eagle

The Wichita Eagle

The Wichita Eagle is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas. It is owned by The McClatchy Company, which publishes 31 other newspapers, including The Kansas City Star.It is the largest newspaper in Wichita, Kansas and the surrounding area....

from 1975 to 1996. He is considered one of the fathers of civic journalism

Civic Journalism

The civic journalism movement is, according to professor David K. Perry of the University of Alabama, an attempt to abandon the notion that journalists and their audiences are spectators in political and social processes. In its place, the civic journalism movement seeks to treat readers and...

, a new school of thought that advocates using public opinion and involving citizens in the journalistic process, and journalists in community, to set an issues-focused agenda for political coverage, rather than focusing on the political process or the agendas of politicians. Merritt is the author of three books on journalism, "Public Journalism and Public Life," "The Two W's of Journalism", the latest being Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism Is Putting Democracy at Risk, a critique of corporate ownership of newspapers that reserves its most pointed criticism for Knight Ridder

Knight Ridder

Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...

, which was the longtime owner of The Wichita Eagle.

He is especially known for his project "We the People" where he transformed his newspaper.