OPINION: Words Matter: Titans of the industry

Gail Parsons, Abilene Reflector-Chronicle, Kan.
·2 min read

Nov. 29—When Emily Bradbury, executive director at the Kansas Press Association, notified me that my dear friend Kathy Hageman was selected for induction in the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame, I was beside myself with excitement.

In the years I have known Kathy, she has been a friend, co-worker, and mentor. Her dedication to the industry and her readers goes beyond anyone I know. She has an incredible gift with words.

I had the pleasure of interviewing her for a story about her being selected.

She told me, "I have always had visions of the Hall of Fame being the titans of the industry — people who have made multiple strides, people like William Allen White, and Henry B. Jameson and Charles Harger."

The induction ceremony this year was special for more than just the fact that she was taking her place alongside those, "Titans of the industry." This year, there were far more inductees than in a normal year.

This year the Kansas Press Association stepped up to right a wrong. Kathy was correct about those listed in the Hall of Fame being the best in Kansas journalism. However, there was a noticeable lack of women and people of color represented.

Last year, Roy Wenzl, with the Wichita Eagle was asked to introduce Jean Hays, at the induction ceremony.

As he prepared his speech, he looked over the KPA website and was shocked at what he saw. Jean would only be the Hall of Fame's seventh female inductee in its 92-year history. There was also a glaring lack of people of color represented among the 142 inductees.

That would change this year — 29 of the 34 2023 inductees are women and several are people of color.

In addition to journalists who are still active in the industry, there were some who were recognized posthumously. Among those was Clarina Nichols, a journalist and newspaper editor who used her skills during the major reform movements of the mid-19th century. She was the only woman invited to the Wyandotte Convention in 1859, which resulted in the writing of the Kansas Constitution.

Also inducted was Peggy Hull. Peggy was the first woman war correspondent accredited by the United States government and the first woman to serve on four battlefronts.

Others in this year's class of inductees were Pulitzer Prize winners Patricia Weems Gaston, Melinda Henneberger, and Colleen McCain Nelson; and several other who were Pulitzer Prize finalists.

These women and so many more, just like Kathy, have devoted their lives to telling the stories of the people in their communities — the good and the bad.

It is refreshing to see them being recognized and accepted as a legitimate part of the Kansas newspaper industry.