The Michigan Press Association and the MSU School of Journalism established the original Michigan Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1952. The MSU School of Journalism has been the home of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame since 1985, reprising the Michigan Newspaper Hall of Fame, which had been dormant since 1968.
- George R. Averill, editor-publisher, Birmingham Eccentric
- William H. Berkey, editor, The Cassopolis Vigilant
- George Gough Booth, co-founder, Booth Newspapers
- Vernon J. Brown, publisher, Ingham County News
- Donald F. Cochrane, publisher, Hartford Day Spring
- Len W. Feighner, publisher, Nashville News
- Harry Y. Fitzgerald, general manager, Pontiac Press
- Howard H. Fitzgerald, publisher, St. Johns News, Flint Journal; President, Pontiac Press
- Charles A. French, publisher, Holland Evening Sentinel
- A.D. Gallery, publisher, Tuscola County Advertiser
- Charles Moore Greenway, editor, Grand Rapids Press
- Joseph Haas, publisher, Holly Herald; columnist, Pontiac Press
- George C. Handy, publisher, Ypsilanti Evening Press
- John N. Ingersoll, founder of first newspaper in the Upper Peninsula, The Lake Superior News and Mining Journal
- Fred Keister Sr., founder, Ionia County News
- Gen. James H. Kidd, publisher, Ionia Sentinel
- Col. Wm. Franklin Knox, publisher, Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
- Schuyler L. Marshall, publisher, Clinton County News-Republican
- Ernest James McCall, publisher, Grand Haven Daily Tribune
- J.N. McCall, founder, Gratiot County Herald
- Wallace Webb McCall, publisher, Mount Pleasant Times-News
- Floyd J. Miller, publisher, Royal Oak Daily Tribune
- Chase Salmon Osborn, publisher, Sault Ste. Marie News and Saginaw Courier-Herald
- Stuart H. Perry, publisher, Adrian Daily Telegram
- Elihu B. Pond, publisher and editor, Ann Arbor Argus; first president, Michigan Press Association
- Phillip T. Rich, publisher, Midland Daily News
- The Rev. Gabriel Richard, founder, Michigan Essay, first newspaper west of the Alleghenies (1809)
- James Edmund Scripps, founder, The Detroit News
- J.P. Sheldon, co-founder, Detroit Free Press
- Arthur Stace, editor, Ann Arbor News
- Arthur R. Treanor, editor, Saginaw News
- Adrian Van Koevering, Zeeland Record
- Arthur H. Vandenberg, U.S. Senator; publisher, Grand Rapids Press
- Al Weber, publisher, Cheboygan Daily Tribune
- Louis A. Weil Sr., president, Port Huron Times Herald
- Harry Whiteley, general manager, Dowagiac Daily News