Dori J. Maynard, journalist and avid advocate for equality in the newsroom, has died at the age of 56.
The president of The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education died on Tuesday due to complications from lung cancer. Maynard was the daughter of Robert C. Maynard, the first African-American to own a newspaper. Maynard used her passion for journalism to push for diversity in newsrooms all over the country.
Recently, Maynard led the Fault Lines training program, which shows journalists how to properly cover the news in diverse areas. She also took part in various discussions when it came to the nationwide protests against police violence late last year. Maynard questioned why the media quickly picked up stories about the protests instead of exploring the reasoning behind them.
According to the San Jose Mercury News:
Once asked what her middle initial “J” stood for, she quipped: “Journalism.”
“She’s the kind of person who understood how this idea of diversity was so vital today and continues to be vital and needed to change from our old ways of thinking of what that meant and how to implement it in the production of news and the way we think about news,” said longtime friend Sally Lehrman. “She was always thinking about work because she loved it and it was such a part of her.”
Bob Butler, president of the National Association of Black Journalists and a reporter at Bay Area radio station KCBS, said, “It’s hard to fathom how the institute is going to go on, but it’s got to go on.”
Maynard graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with a bachelor’s degree in American history. She followed her father’s legacy and in 1993, was a Neiman scholar at Harvard University. She also worked for the Detroit Free Press, the Bakersfield Californian, and The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Massachusetts. She also worked with the Oakland Tribune before and after her father sold the newspaper.
I am so saddened. Dori J. Maynard @djmaynard, president of the Robert C. Maynard institute for Journalism Education, has died. She was 56.
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) February 25, 2015
I met Dori Maynard at my first @ONA conference. She made me believe. Her loss is a huge blow to #mediadiversity. http://t.co/P7ApTKnFpi
— Juana Summers (@jmsummers) February 25, 2015
stunned. weeping. | Dori Maynard, journalist/diversity champion, dies at 56 – Oakland http://t.co/yGLuWhsxf4 | may she rest.
— Danyel Smith (@danamo) February 25, 2015
I am because she was. Rest in peace @djmaynard. I love you. I hope you found Charles. http://t.co/mybwYlKqLT pic.twitter.com/v3hupxRunk
— Latoya Peterson (@LatoyaPeterson) February 25, 2015
May she rest in peace.
SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News | PHOTO CREDIT: Handout
