Daniels family honors former N&O publisher with new program at UNC journalism school
The family of Frank Daniels Jr. announced Tuesday the creation of an executive-in-residence program at UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media named in honor of the longtime News & Observer president and publisher.
Expected to launch in Fall 2021, the program will bring media executives to Chapel Hill to teach a one-semester class and work with students. The executive will close the semester with the Frank A. Daniels Jr. Lecture featuring the discussion of emerging issues at the intersection of media, politics and public discourse.
“I am honored, and I am delighted,” Daniels said at a reception at his home, where the program was announced.
National attention for journalism school
Susan King, dean of the journalism school, said the program would bring national attention to the school and give its students exposure to industry officials with decades of experience.
“It’s something that I’ve wanted for a long time,” said King, who has seen the number of students enrolled in the Hussman School grow by several hundred since she was named dean in 2012. The school has about 1,100 undergraduate and about 130 graduate students.
King compared the new program to one at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
In selecting executives for the program, King said a likely candidate would be someone who is retiring after a long career.
Daniels’ son, Frank Daniels III, who came to Raleigh from his home in Nashville for the announcement, said the program is a good way to honor his dad’s years of leadership at The News & Observer and his work to make it a respected source of news for its readers in Eastern North Carolina and, once it went online, across the country.
Frank Daniels Jr. grew up around the news business. His father, Frank Daniels, had been chairman of the board of the company that published both The News & Observer and The Raleigh Times.
Josephus Daniels name removed
Frank Daniels Jr. is the grandson of Josephus Daniels, who bought The News & Observer after it went bankrupt in 1894 with financial help from Julian S. Carr. Like Carr, Josephus Daniels was a white supremacist and he used the paper in 1898 to foment fear and anger toward Blacks and to quell their growing influence at the time in local and state politics.
The newspaper’s work to aid racists in the state’s Democratic Party of that day culminated in the massacre of Black political and community leaders and residents in Wilmington in 1898.
Josephus Daniels was a strong advocate for UNC and for N.C. State University, and officials at both schools named buildings on campus for him. The Wake County school system also named Daniels Middle School in his honor.
But this year, both universities and Wake County renamed those buildings, removing the name of Josephus Daniels because of his racist history. The Daniels family also this year removed a statue of Josephus that had stood in a downtown park since 1985.
The naming of the executive-in-residence program at UNC honors the more progressive legacy that Josephus’ descendants, especially Frank Daniels Jr., have worked to build, Frank Daniels III said.
Launching a program that will help new generations of journalists launch careers in public information, newsgathering and holding public officials accountable, he said, “is more appropriate than having a name on a building.”
Money for the executive-in-residence program will come from the former Josephus Daniels Scholars, a needs-based program established at UNC in 1949. That program will be renamed in honor of Frank Daniels Jr. and its recipients will continue to be funded through their graduation. Then that program will end and the money used to fund it will be transferred to the Hussman School for the executive-in-residence program.
‘A legacy of truth-telling’
Frank Daniels Jr., 89, graduated from UNC in 1953. He served as president and publisher of The N&O from 1971 until he retired in 1996, after the Daniels family sold the news company to the McClatchy chain. Under his leadership, The News & Observer became known as a progressive voice in the South and a leader in digital journalism.
“Frank A. Daniels Jr. has built a legacy of truth-telling, education, democracy and courageous journalism across the state of North Carolina,” UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said Tuesday. “This new program will prepare the next generation of media leaders and give them the unique opportunity to work closely with a thought leader at the top of their profession. We are grateful for his service to our university and his efforts to move North Carolina forward.”
Daniels’ nephew, David Woronoff, said he felt lucky to be able to talk with Daniels after becoming publisher of The Pilot in Southern Pines 24 years ago.
“Everyone can use some Frank Jr. in their lives,” Woronoff said Tuesday. “For the better part of my life, I’ve been the beneficiary of his wisdom and counsel. This executive-in-residence program allows the legacy that I was so fortunate to enjoy to be shared with future generations of North Carolinians.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Daniels family honors former N&O publisher with new program at UNC journalism school."
