Arthur Knock

November 16, 1866, Arthur Krock, future Pulitzer Prize winner and newspaper manager, was born in Glasgow, Kentucky.  He was raised by a bookkeeper and homemaker, and graduated from high school in 1904, ready to take on college life at Princeton. Due to financial issues, Krock was forced to drop out of the prestigious school and return home to obtain an associate in arts degree from Chicago’s Lewis Institute (Leab).

Krock’s minor setback in getting a quality higher education didn’t stop him from achieving success. He started his first job as a general assignment reporter for the Louisville Herald in Kentucky. However, the newspaper faced financial difficulties the next year, so Krock allowed himself to be laid off. Krock then worked as a deputy sheriff before becoming a night editor for the Associated Press in Louisville. In 1909 he became the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Louisville Times as a result of his romantic involvement with the daughter of the newspaper's owner (Leab).

After the death of two wives in the course of about 30 years, Krock moved to New York City and worked briefly for the movie industry's newly established lobbying body. Krock soon became an assistant to Ralph Pulitzer, the publisher of the New York World. This connection brought Krock to become an editorial writer for the New York World. After policy disputes with World’s editors and Pulitzer, Krock moved to The New York Times as an editorial writer, and soon became the head of the paper’s Washington bureau (Leab).

A workhorse, Krock often wrote the paper's lead Washington stories and dominated its government coverage. According to Time magazine he was "closer, longer to the power centers of U.S. politics than any other man, journalist or politician" (Leab). Krock had the scoop on all the major political events in his time, and won three Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of the New Deal, an interview of President Roosevelt, and an interview of President Truman (Leab).

Arthur Knock is the perfect example of what a good, hard-working journalist looks like. He worked through his adversaires to make it to the top. His outstanding coverage led a beautiful example for furture journalists to follow as they enter the political world.

Bibliography:

 Leab, Daniel J. "American National Biography Online: Krock, Arthur." American National Biography Online: Krock, Arthur. Oxford University Press, 9 July 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.