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Roy W. Howard wasn’t born in Indiana and he isn’t an IU alumnus. But the School of Journalism is proud of its close ties to this innovator who led major news organizations, protected the rights of a free and independent press and, even as an industry leader, always thought of himself as a reporter.

Roy W. Howard did, however, have Hoosier ties. Born in Ohio, he spent his boyhood in Indianapolis, where his first entry into journalism was as a newspaper carrier. As a schoolboy, he delivered the Indianapolis Star in the morning the Indianapolis News in the afternoons.

While still in high school, he began selling his own articles to those newspapers and eventually became a fulltime reporter at the Star, and later, he became sports editor at the News. From there, his ambition and talent led to his post as New York correspondent for Scripps McRae Newspapers and, by the age of 29, Roy W. Howard became president of United Press in 1912. In 1922, he was leading Scripps Howard Newspapers. He retired in 1953 but remained active in the company until his death at age 81 in 1964.

The School of Journalism is home to the Roy W. Howard Archive, a collection of letters representing Howard’s correspondence with world leaders and contemporaries.

The school also joins with the Scripps Foundation in sponsoring the Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition each year, a program that awards journalism students from around the nation a trip to Japan and Korea. One of Howard’s coups was to interview Japanese emperor Hirohito in 1933, a feat no other American journalist had accomplished and one that followed several months of persistence on Howard’s part. The competition’s prize — the trip — seeks to follow Howard’s footsteps in bringing a better understanding of other cultures and their journalistic practices to American students.

Learn more:

Read about the Roy W. Howard Archive and see the index of correspondence.

Read about the Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition, including trip diaries from the 2006 and 2007 trips.