David Rood
Inducted in 1997
editor and publisher, Upper Peninsula Newspapers
Being a newspaper man wasn’t enough for David Rood. He wanted to be a good newspaperman. His desire to protect the integrity of the trade would later cost him his job. Born in 1926 and raised in Marquette, Rood began working as a high school stringer for The Marquette Mining Journal when he was just 15. After spending two years in the Army, Rood graduated from Michigan State University in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. In the ensuing 20 years, Rood served as a reporter, editor and publisher at various newspapers across Michigan. In 1971 he joined The Escanaba Daily Press as managing editor and was named editor the following year. In 1977 Rood was asked by the head of Panax Corporation, the publisher of The Escanaba Daily Press, to run two stories about President Jimmy Carter. Rood refused to comply, saying the stories were shoddy journalism. He was fired, and the ensuing battle gained national attention as a struggle between an absentee publisher and a local editor. “When he took his courageous stand in 1977 against those whose ideas of journalism ran counter to all he believed in, he took that stand for all of us who cherish the same principles,” said Neal Shine, former publisher of The Detroit Free Press. His contributions to the industry, as well as his stand for journalistic integrity, will long endear him to all in the field.