January 20, 2021, Kansas — Pam Johnson, known as a trailblazer for women in journalism, died at the age of 74 after battling dementia. The Coalition For Women In Journalism expresses sorrow over the loss of a valued and skilled editor in the world of journalism.

“When it gets in your blood, journalism is what you live,” Pam once said in a lecture held in 2013 at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri.

Pam had the experience of working as a media executive and managing editor at a number of well-reputed publications. She had worked as the executive editor of the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette for 13 years before becoming the first director of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri in 2004.

At the Reynolds Institute, she oversaw projects to improve the practice of journalism.  This included experiments to better understand new technologies for journalism and advertising and the organization of programs to strengthen the quality of journalism.

In 1982, she received a Pulitzer Prize along with a team of reporters from The Star and the Kansas City Times for their coverage of the Hyatt Hotel skywalk collapse in July 1981. 

Randall Smith, one of the Reynolds Journalism Institute’s endowment chairs, spoke to Pam’s achievements, “Her impact was wide and in many communities. Her legacy will primarily be the people she helped lift up and the people she is going to lift up in the future.”

CFWIJ is saddened by the demise of a renowned contributor and mentor to the field of journalism, whose service will surely be remembered.  We express our condolences to Pam’s friends, family and colleagues in this time of mourning.