Meyer and Davis inducted to N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame, Credle honored
Meyer and Davis inducted to N.C. Hall of Fame in Journalism,
Credle received Next Generation Leadership Award
A revered journalist and scholar, the “father of journalism in North Carolina,” and an advertising ace were honored at the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 30 at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill.
The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media’s Knight Chair in Journalism, Phil Meyer, who retires this year, was inducted this year, as James Davis, who became the state’s first printer in 1749, received the honor posthumously. (View a multimedia presentation about Davis.)
Susan Credle, executive vice president and executive creative director at the BBDO agency in New York, received the Next Generation Leadership Award.
Based in Carolina’s journalism school, the Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made outstanding, career-long contributions to their fields. Honorees must be native North Carolinians, or must have made a significant contribution to the state.
Meyer joined the journalism school in 1981 after an award-winning career as a reporter and researcher. He earned a master’s degree in political science from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1958.
Meyer believes in the power of precision journalism, or discovering truths from survey research, analysis of public records and field experiments. Meyer’s book Precision Journalism, published in 1973, was listed by Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly as one of the 35 significant journalism and mass communication books of the 20th century. The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) also listed the book as one of the 50 significant books concerning public opinion research in the first 50 years of the organization.
Using methods of precision journalism, Meyer analyzed the grievances behind the Detroit riot of 1967 for the Detroit Free Press, leading to a Pulitzer Prize for general local reporting for the newspaper’s staff.
His 2004 book, The Vanishing Newspaper, sounded a warning about the decline in daily newspaper readers, and he proposed a business model for preserving the industry’s viability amidst the changes in media technology.
Meyer is a past president of AAPOR and the World Association for Public Opinion Research. He has served on the editorial boards of Public Opinion Quarterly, Newspaper Research Journal and the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, and is a member of USA Today’s board of contributors.
James Davis brought the first printing press to North Carolina in 1749. He was the state’s first printer, published the state’s first book, first newspaper and first magazine.
Davis moved to North Carolina from Virginia after the N.C. General Assembly hired him to turn handwritten statutes into books for governmental use. He also printed currency, legislative journals and session laws. In his 33 years as a public printer, he printed at least 100 titles. Davis also printed the state’s first non-legal book written by a North Carolinian, Clement Hall’s A Collection of Many Christian Experiences.
Davis served in the General Assembly, as a county sheriff, justice of the peace and commissioner of the Port of New Bern. Ben Franklin appointed him to open the state’s first post office in 1755.
In 2000, Davis’ descendent Virginia Pou Doughton established a scholarship in Davis’ name in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. The annual award is given to a journalism student and N.C. native with an interest in N.C. history.
Credle graduated from Carolina in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. After graduation, she began working at BBDO, an advertising agency headquartered in New York. She worked her way from junior copywriter in 1987 to executive creative director in 2005. She is a member of its board of directors.
Credle is known for her work establishing the M&M “spokescandies” as icons in global pop culture. She also was part of the creative effort to make Cingular Wireless a recognized national brand in just four months.
Credle has created award-winning advertising campaigns for other brands including Dove, Celebrations, Popables and M'Azing. She has won numerous industry awards and has been an important creative contributor to other BBDO accounts including Armstrong, AIG, Bank of America, Venus, FedEx, Pepsi and Visa.
The new inductees bring total membership to 116 in the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame, founded in 1981. The school is also home to the N.C. Halls of Fame in Advertising and Public Relations, which were established in 1988.