Newsroom Eyes and Other Newshawks
“You dig me up a good yarn, brother, and I’ll kiss you.”
— Garry Dean, hard-boiled newshawk, chats up a source in Call the Lady Indiscreet (1946)
“Newspaper reporters are like dicks. Private dicks. Yeah, I know everyone loves the private investigator. But I look at it this way: A newspaperman is a P.I. who can spell.”
— Charles Aesop Farnsworth, editor, River City Blade
I admit that the distinction between private eye and a journalist is often a tenuous one at best. Of course, not all journalists can be considered honourary PI’s. But more than a few can. A lot depends on their attitude. After all, reporters do conduct independent and private (non-official) investigations for a fee, often as freelancers (on “spec”).
So, for the purpose of this site, let’s say that a journalist who could credibly come to investigate crime or otherwise make like a detective as a regular part of their job will be considered a private eye; whereas those who just happen to be journalists and end up investigating crime do not. For example, a crime or political reporter who looks into, say, a suspicious death or a political scandal, would qualify; but the gardening columnist who stumbles over a body in the vicar’s rose garden does not.
Not quite sure what I’m getting at? Check out the following newsroom eyes, all of whom I think qualify…
REPORTERS
- Dan Banion by Robert Finnegan (The San Francisco Journal)
- Alamo Barnes by Hugh Lessig (The Frisco Foil)
- Caitlin Bergman by August Norman (freelance)
- Dwight “Di” Berke by Carl G. Hodges (The Journal; sports)
- Robin Bishop by Geoffrey Homes
- Torchy Blane by Frederick Nebel (The Herald)
- Katie “The Duchess” Blayne by Whiman Chambers (The Sun)
- Sam Briscoe by Pete Hamill (New York World)
- Nick Burney by Edward Churchill (The Las Verdes Sentinel)
- Sully Carter by Neely Tucker (The Washington DC Metro)
- Johnny Castle by C.S. Montanye (sports)
- Frank Corso by G.M. Ford (Seattle Sun, freelance)
- Adam Cullen by David A. Poulsen (Freelance; formerly The Calgary Herald)
- Garry Dean by Paul Whelton (The Belle City Press-Bulletin)
- Peggy Delaney by James W. Nichol (The Toronto Tribune)
- Leo Desroches by Wayne Arthurson (The Edmonton Journal)
- Joe “Daffy” Dill by Richard Sale (The New York Chronicle)
- Fletch by Gregory McDonald
- Jack Gannon by Rick Mofina (The World Press Alliance)
- Danny Getchell by James Ellroy (Hush-Hush)
- Zsigmond Gordon by Vilmos Kondor (The Budapest Journal)
- Bart Hardin by David Alexander (The Broadway Times)
- Harker by Marc Olden
- Harrigan by Ed Lybeck (The New York Leader)
- Mike Hodge by David Mamet (The Chicago Tribune)
- Hank Janson by Hank Janson (The Chicago Chronicle)
- Hakeem Jinnah by Don Hauka (The Vancouver Province)
- Adam Jordan by Joseph Koenig (Real Detective)
- Lara Kelly by Sandra Ruttan (The Oakridge Ledger) (Connecticut)
- Kennedy by Frederick Nebel (The Free Press)
- Eldon Larkin by Vince Kohler (The South Coast Sun) (Oregon)
- Jimmy McDonald by Monte Collins and Julian I. Peyser (The Hollywood Evening Telegram)
- Jack McEvoy by Michael Connelly (The Rocky Mountain News, The Los Angeles Times)
- Joe Medford by Jimmy Starr (Hollywood)
- Johnny Métal by Léo Malet
- Carter Monk by Fredric Brown (The Daily Blade)
- Addison Francis “The Rambler” Murphy by Fred MacIsaacs
- Britt Montero by Edna Buchanan
- Liam Mulligan by Bruce DeSilva (The Providence Journal)
- Billy Nichols by Eddie Muller (San Francisco Inquirer)
- Bob O’Hara by Gilbert Thomas (Hong Kong correspondent, Interconpress)
- Amanda Reed and Jake West by Keith Johnson (Crime World Magazine)
- Quinn by Harry Carmichael (The (London) Morning Sun)
- Carroll Quint by Jerry Kennealy (The San Francisco Bulletin)
- Sensible Redhorn by Timothy Holter Bruckner (The Flashorn City Flashorn)
- Tom Reed by Rick Mofina (The San Francisco Star)
- Mary Roberts by Michael Lennox and George Zuckerman (Québec City)
- Carter Ross by Brad Parks (The Newark Eagle-Examiner)
- Jane Ryland by Hank Phillipi Ryan (The Boston Register)
- Picasso Smith by Hugh Lessig (The Frisco Foil)
- Randy Stone from radio’s Nightbeat (The Chicago Star)
- Joe Tinker by Donald Honig (The New York Daily News)
- Jerry Tracy by Theodore A. Tinsley (The Daily Planet)
- Lola Wicks by Gwen Florio (freelance)
- Jimmy Wing by John D. MacDonald (Palm City Record-Journal)
- Ray Wyatt by Rick Mofina (First Press Alliance Wire Services)
PHOTOGRAPHERS
- Gail Berke by Carl G. Hodges (The Journal; sports)
- Flashgun Casey by George Harmon Coxe
- One-Shot Harry Ingram by Gary Phillips
- Candid Jones by Richard Sale (The New York Chronicle)
- Kent Murdock by George Harmon Coxe
- Jerry Wade by John L. Benton
COLUMNISTS
- Bill Brent/Lora Lorne by Frederick C. Davis (advice for the lovelorn;Â The New York Recorder)
- Johnny Lane by Dave Zeltserman (crime; The Denver Examiner)
EDITORS
- Danny Getchell by James Ellroy (Hush-Hush)
- Steve Wilson from radio’s Big Town (The Illustrated Press)
ONLINE
- Frank Corso by Frederick Zackel (Las Vegas City @ Nite)
TELEVISION NEWS & DOCUMENTARIES
- Lou Brick by George Mair (LA-based Capitol Broadcasting System)
- Alex Tanner by Anabel Donald (researcher for TV documentaries)