Thomas, William F., 1924-2014
Dates
- Existence: 1924 - 2014
Biography
William Frederick Thomas was born June 11, 1924, in Bay City, Michigan, to Irene and William Thomas. He graduated from Bay City Central High School in 1942, and then joined the Army, serving first in Europe and later in Japan, before receiving both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from Medill in 1950 and 1951 respectively. He was hired as a copy editor at the Buffalo Evening News, before moving to the Sierra Madre News in 1955, and in 1957 to the Los Angeles Mirror-News, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Times. In 1962 Thomas joined the Los Angeles Times, and became metro editor in 1965. From 1972 to 1989 he led the Los Angeles Times, and after he retired he remained in contact with colleagues and friends, in the newsroom and outside it. Thomas died February 23, 2014.
Occupations
Topics
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
William Frederick Thomas (1924-2014) Papers, 1924-2014
William F. Thomas was a leading editor of the Los Angeles Times from 1972 through 1989, during a period of critical expansion and stylistic change for the newspaper. Under his leadership the paper won 11 Pulitzer prizes and opened six new foreign bureaus and five new domestic ones. Under Thomas, the LA Times newsroom also spearheaded so-called “new journalism,” which involved in-depth, magazine style reporting on news issues.