A message about the importance of the free press

Poynter · Poynter Staff · last updated July 4, 2026 – 3:01 AM

On America’s 250th birthday, we reprint the words of the late Poynter chairman Eugene C. Patterson

Eugene C. Patterson fought Nazis as a tank platoon leader in World War II. He fought for civil rights as a crusading editor at The Atlanta Constitution in the 1960s. He fought for high standards and ethical journalism in all his roles as a newspaper editor, including as CEO and chairman of the St. Petersburg Times and chairman of its owner, the Poynter Institute, from 1978-88.

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