November 21, 2007

CONTACT:  Robyn Gentile, Tennessee Press Association (865) 584-5761

Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame Inducts Four

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame inducted four individuals on Friday, November 16, 2007, in Knoxville.  Frank Richard Ahlgren (1903-1995), Col. Thomas Boyers (1825-1895), Ralph L. Millett Jr. (1919-2000) and Willis C. Tucker (1907-2001) were inducted posthumously.

Ahlgren was editor of The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, from 1936 until his retirement in 1968.  He was a force for industrial development and he believed in serving his community.  "An editor," Ahlgren wrote, "is under a special obligation to do more than anyone else because a newspaper office has an amazing opportunity to translate ideas into practice.  In a sense the newspaper is not the editor's but the property of the community."  He served on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees for 27 years.  Ahlgren joins the late J.P. Alley, his father-in-law, and the late Cal Alley, his brother-in-law, in the Hall of Fame.

Col. Thomas Boyers was the organizing president of the Tennessee Press Association.  Boyers founded the Nashville American and the Gallatin Examiner (now The News Examiner).  He wrote a descriptive account of the marriage and separation of Sam Houston and Eliza Allen that was published throughout the United States.  At the time of his death, Boyers was said to be the oldest living journalist in Tennessee.

Ralph L. Millett Jr. was editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1967 until 1984.  Millett worked tirelessly for open government and for the right of citizens to know what goes on inside government.  He chaired several TPA committees, including the FOI committee from 1971 to 1974, and worked with legislators on open government issues.  His efforts resulted in the Newsman's Shield Law, also known as the Tennessee Shield Law, in 1973, and the Sunshine Law of Tennessee in 1974.  Millett's father, Ralph L. Millett Sr., was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Willis C. Tucker was the founding director of the University of Tennessee Journalism Department and was largely responsible for its elevation to a freestanding School of Journalism in 1957.  Tucker established the Tennessee High School Press Association and played a pivotal role in the relationship between UT and the Tennessee Press Association.  Tucker worked with Walter Pulliam, TPA president in 1965, to create the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame.

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame was established in 1966 as a joint project of the Tennessee Press Association and the University of Tennessee. The Hall of Fame honors those who have made an outstanding contribution to Tennessee Newspaper journalism or, through Tennessee journalism, to newspaper journalism generally, or who have made an extraordinary contribution to their communities and region, or the state, through newspaper journalism. The program recognizes and memorializes "extraordinary and clearly outstanding" contributions to newspaper journalism and the newspaper industry.

The program's criteria and procedures were established in 1966, based on policies set jointly by the Tennessee Press Association and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame is physically located on the third floor of the Communications Building at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Portraits of all 48 inductees are displayed there. The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame Web address is: http://www.cci.utk.edu/~jem/TNHF.html. This site is managed by the University of Tennessee. 

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame is administered by a committee composed of the administrative head of the UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media, or his/her designee, as chair, with two members appointed by the Tennessee Press Association and two members appointed by the University of Tennessee.

 Selection of honorees is made biennially by a five-member committee of past presidents of the Tennessee Press Association, serving on a staggered-term basis. No more than four honorees may be selected at any one time. Forty-eight now have been honored. Nominations are sought in even-numbered years; however, nominations can be made at any time. Installation ceremonies are held in odd-numbered years, if honorees are selected. 

Financial underwriting for the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame is provided by the Tennessee Press Association Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the support of print journalism education scholarships, research and other similar activities designed to meet the needs of the newspaper profession in Tennessee.

The TPA was founded in 1870-71 for the purpose of creating a unified voice for the newspaper industry in Tennessee. Today, TPA continues to provide assistance to its 128 member newspapers by monitoring legislative activities, providing training programs, issuing press credentials, maintaining a Web site and providing regular meetings and forums to foster the exchange of information and ideas.

The ceremony on November 16 marked the fourteenth induction ceremony for the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame.  The event was held in conjunction with the Tennessee Press Association's Fall Board Meeting.

For photographs and more biographical information on Ahlgren, Boyers, Millett and Tucker, please visit www.tnpress.com/halloffame.html.