One to One with Bill Goodman:
The Life and Times of Barry Bingham Jr.
aired July 14 and 16, 2006
Louisville Courier-Journal editorial page editor Keith Runyon reflects on the life and times of the newspaper’s former publisher, Barry Bingham Jr. (pictured), on this edition of One to One. Bill Goodman hosts.
Bingham, who died on April 3, 2006, was the editor and publisher of the Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times from 1971 to 1986. Known for an uncompromising insistence on the highest standards of journalistic ethics, he was the last descendant of the Bingham family that controlled Louisville’s daily newspapers and the WHAS television and radio stations for much of the 20th century. He took over the Courier-Journal from his father, Barry Bingham Sr., who had made it into one of the nation’s most respected newspapers, and continued to build on that legacy. During the younger Bingham’s tenure as publisher, the C-J won Pulitzer Prizes in 1976 for photographs related to the impact of court-ordered public school busing in Jefferson County, in 1978 for investigative stories on the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, and in 1980 for stories and photographs from Cambodia.
In the One to One program, Runyon offers his recollections of Bingham as both boss and friend. The two worked together at the newspaper for a number of years, then continued their friendship after Bingham departed. Runyon served as a pallbearer at Bingham’s funeral.
