Contact: Kent Kirkton or Tom Reilly, (818) 885-3135 Carmen Ramos Chandler, (818) 885-2130
Emery taught journalism at California State University, Northridge for nearly 30 years beginning in1968, and chaired the program from 1985-90.
He was co-author with his late father, Edwin Emery, of The Press and America, the most widely read journalism textbook in the country. In its eighth edition, the book is in use at more than 200 colleges and universities nationally. He also was co-editor of Readings in Mass Communications: Concepts and Issues in the Mass Media, which is in its third edition.
Emery was a noted and prolific writer in the fields of journalism history, international news media and media's influence on society. His most recent book, On the Front Lines; Following America's Foreign Correspondents Across the 20th Century, was published earlier this year by American University Press. He also was co-author of America's Front Page News, 1690-1970, published in 1970, and a 1983 monograph, America's Leading Daily Newspapers.
In addition to his extensive teaching and research, Emery was an active and productive freelance journalist, interviewing many leading international figures and reporting from such diverse places as Nicaragua, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and Bosnia. An exclusive interview he had on the eve of the Persian Gulf War with King Hussein of Jordan was published in the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice and 40 other publications.
At the time of his death, he was writing and researching another book project, "Tears in the Holy Land: The Israelis and the Palestinians," which will incorporate photographs, interviews and observations he made during nine trips to the West Bank, Gaza, Israel, Jordan and other areas of the Middle East.
In recent years, he had interviews with Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, President Arias of Costa Rica and Serbian President Milosevic. These and similar reporting assignments were widely published in American and European newspapers. Research for his books had taken him on more than 20 international trips to conduct interviews with American foreign correspondents. He also reported international stories for Los Angeles all-news radio stations KNX, KFWB and for CBS News, New York.
The many awards and honors he received during his career included Outstanding Journalism Educator in 1977 from the California Newspaper Publishers Association; the National Outstanding Chapter Adviser Award in 1986 from the Society of Professional Journalists; and the 1992 Best Investigative Report in the Free Press Association's 11th annual Mencken Awards.
The latter honor was for Emery's exclusive report, "The War That Didn't Have to Happen: How U.S. Scuttled the Arab Peace Plan," which appeared in the Village Voice in 1990. This investigative article also was the basis of a December 1990 "60 Minutes" segment reported by CBS correspondent Mike Wallace, who cited the effectiveness of Emery's work. The national award and recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists highlighted more than 30 years of participation and leadership in the CSUN student chapter and Los Angeles professional chapter of the influential journalism organization.
His academic writings have appeared in a wide range of publications, including Advertising Age, Australian Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Editor and Publisher, Journalism Educator, Journalism History, Journalism Quarterly Media Studies Journal, Quill, Publishers' Auxiliary, Revue Francais d'Etudes Americaines (Paris), and the Review of Southern California Journalism.
His work as a freelance journalist resulted in articles for the Denver Post, Easy Reader (Los Angeles), In These Times, Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, Press-Telegram (Long Beach), Rocky Mountain News, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Seattle Times, and the Village Voice.
He was editor of Publishers' Auxiliary's Bicentennial History Project, a 12-part series in 1975-76 that reviewed the first 300 years of American journalism. Other editor assignments included associate and contributing editor for Journalism History, an international academic journal, and contributing editor for The Review of Southern California Journalism. As a result of his wide knowledge about American journalism, he was involved in the production of more than 40 media-related slide sets which have been used widely in college and university classrooms and he wrote three educational guidebooks for filmstrips produced by the 3M Corporation of Minneapolis.
Emery's educational contributions included long-time participation in the National Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He was co-founder in 1975 of the West Coast Journalism Historians (now the Western Journalism History Association), the largest such organization in the West.
His work in the history of communication included research and advisement to the "Newspapers in America" permanent exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and a new museum on journalism being constructed in Virginia by the Freedom Forum.
Emery was born in Berkeley, Calif., on April 1, 1940. He was raised and attended high school in Minneapolis, where his father, Edwin Emery, was an internationally known scholar at the University of Minnesota.
He began his career as a journalist in 1961 with a three-year assignment as a staff writer in the Minneapolis Bureau of United Press International. After completing bachelor and master degrees in history and journalism at the University of Minnesota, he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater campus in 1964.
In 1968, he completed a Ph.D. in mass communication at the University of Minnesota and that fall joined the Cal State Northridge faculty.
His first department chair, Dr. Erling Erlandson, prophetically noted at the time, "Dr. Emery will in a few years become one of the leading journalism educators in the United States." Over the years, Emery also taught classes at the University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and at South Australian College of Advanced Education in Adelaide, Australia.
Emery's interest, enthusiasm and concern for teaching and preparing students for careers in the field was well known to several generations of college students, many of whom have gone on to careers as professional journalists. Emery's concern and effectiveness led to his long-time colleague, Kenneth Devol to observe, "His strengths include his interest in the student and the student's welfare and learning; his knowledge of subject matter and his scholarly approach in preparing for teaching; and his enthusiasm and willingness to assume time-consuming and difficult tasks." Emery also had successfully guided scores of graduate students to successful completion of their master's thesis and degree programs.
He is survived by his wife, Lulu S. Emery; three daughters, Maria Emery Endner of Portland, Ore., Andrea Emery Scott of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Nicollette Emery of Santa Monica, Calif.; sisters Laurel Emery of Tustin, Calif., and Alison Emery of Minneapolis; step-children, Leila Calnan of Jerusalem and Ramsey and Raymond Calnan of Chatsworth; sons-in-law Ed Endner and Patrick Scott; and grandsons, Nathan Endner and Ryan Scott.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to the American Cancer Society, 3255 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 701, Los Angeles, CA 90010 (Tel. 800-227-2345), or the Edwin Emery Travel Fund, AEJMC, 1621 College St., University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208-0251.