Edmund C. Arnold

Inducted 1987

editor and publisher, Frankenmuth News; newspaper designer

Edmund C. Arnold (born in 1913) is considered by many as the “father of modern newspaper design.” He is responsible for more than 250 newspaper designs throughout the United States, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand and Latin America and has written many textbooks on the subject.

A native of Bay City, Michigan, he is a graduate of Michigan State University. Arnold became editor of the Frankenmuth News in 1939 and later served as publisher of the paper. He also worked at the Saginaw News and the Lansing State Journal. In addition to a successful newspaper career, Arnold has also been one of America’s foremost journalism educators.

He served as chairman of the Graphic Arts and Publishing Departments at Syracuse University from 1960-1975 and as a professor at the Virginia Commonweath University’s School of Communications from 1975-1983. Arnold’s academic contributions to journalism have been recognized by many organizations. In 1979, Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists named him a distinguished professor in journalism.

He also received the Carl Towley Memorial Award from the Journalism Education Association. Arnold’s workshops and seminars in Michigan earned him the John V. Field Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. His research has taught editors and publishers how consumers actually read newspapers and how publication design can attract and retain readership in the age of television.

The hundreds of seminars Arnold has conducted for students and working journalists have earned him an international reputation and made a lasting impact on publication design.