Cole Campbell, RIP

Cole Campbell, a former editor (1996-2000) of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the dean of the journalism school at the University of Nevada, Reno, died today following a car accident near his home.

During his tenure in St. Louis, Mr. Campbell challenged his colleagues — more successfully than we noticed at the time — to find new ways to make the newspaper useful to its readers.

MayorSlay.com mourns his passing.

We found this expression of Mr. Campbell’s thought in an interview he gave PJN a couple of years ago.

The most important attributes of journalists are the ability to think cogently and creatively under deadline constraints, to express ideas and information cogently (and creatively as far as such creativity enlivens the expression) and to make professional choices and judgments that are ethical and moral in the sense of being significant to readers, viewers, listeners and browsers.