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{{Short description|British-born American journalist (1930–2022)}}
{{sources|date=December 2022}}
{{
{{Infobox person
| name = John Hughes
| image = John Hughes editor 1985.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Hughes in 1985
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|04|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Neath]], Wales
| death_date = {{death date and age |2022|12|14|1930|4|28|df=y}}
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| occupation = Journalist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
'''R. John Hughes''' (born April 28, 1930) is a Welsh–American journalist, a former [[Nieman Fellow]] at [[Harvard University]], and winner of the [[Pulitzer Prize]] for his coverage of [[Indonesia]] and the [[Overseas Press Club]] Award for an investigation into the international narcotics traffic. He is a former president of the [[American Society of Newspaper Editors]]. Hughes has written two books and writes a nationally syndicated column for ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]''.▼
▲'''
==Childhood==▼
==Biography==
▲===Childhood===
Hughes was born on 28 April 1930 in [[Neath]], Wales, the only child of Evan and Dellis May Hughes. He was raised in London<ref name="benson">{{cite news |last1=Benson |first1=Lee |title=About Utah: It was never about him |url=https://www.deseret.com/2014/7/14/20544802/about-utah-it-was-never-about-him#on-the-cover-of-his-autobiography-former-deseret-news-editor-john-hughes-interviews-sources-while-on-assignment-during-the-vietnam-war |publisher=Deseret News |date=13 July 2014}}</ref> and attended the [[Ancient Literary Company Trade School]]. During [[World War II]], both of Hughes' parents contributed to the war effort – his father was drafted into the [[British Army]] and served in North Africa for three years. His mother was conscripted into the Government Post Office during that time as well. Following the war, the entire family moved to South Africa.
===Education,
At the age of 16, Hughes started his first job as a reporter at ''[[The Mercury (South Africa)|Natal Mercury]]''. Alex Hammond, his first editor, sent him to business school to learn [[shorthand]]. Hughes then worked as a reporter for three years before returning to London, where he worked on [[Fleet Street]] at a news agency. He eventually was hired by the London-based ''[[The Daily Mirror]]''. Shortly after accepting that position, The ''Natal Mercury'' contacted Hughes and asked him to come back to be the Chief of the State Capital Bureau. He accepted. He later became a stringer and a [[freelancer|freelance]] writer for a number of papers in London and ''The Christian Science Monitor'' in Boston.
In 1955, at the age of 25, Hughes moved to
His achievements were readily recognized by ''The Christian Science Monitor'', and he was promoted to Managing Editor, a position which he held for nine years from
===Newspaper ownership and political involvement===
His initial purchase was a weekly paper in [[Cape Cod, Massachusetts]], called the ''[[Cape Cod Oracle]]'', based in Orleans. Hughes Newspapers, Inc. eventually included five weekly newspapers. The company purchased the ''Cape Cod News'' in Hyannis from Frank Fallaci and founded the ''Yarmouth Sun'' and ''Dennis Bulletin'' in the towns of [[Dennis, Massachusetts|Dennis]] and [[Yarmouth, Massachusetts|Yarmouth]]. Hughes Newspapers also published the Lower Cape Shoppers Guide. Hughes sold the newspapers to the G.W. Prescott Publishing Co. in Quincy, in the mid-1980s. The new organization became known as MPG Cape Newspapers, and was operated by MPG Communications in Plymouth. Later MPG Cape Newspapers became Cape Cod Newspapers.
Shortly before [[Ronald Reagan]] was elected president, Hughes received a call from one of Reagan's advisors, asking him what Reagan should say in his acceptance speech, should he be elected. Hughes offered some ideas, which were remembered and used. Shortly after Reagan was elected, Hughes was asked to move to Washington D.C. to serve in Reagan's administration from
Following four years in Washington D.C., Hughes returned to Massachusetts where his newspapers were flourishing. He resumed his control of the companies, but eventually sold them when neither of his children wanted to fill his position.
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Hughes was then asked by ''The Christian Science Monitor'' to be in charge of a [[shortwave]] radio international program. He did this for a few years and then bought a newspaper in [[Maine]] with a friend of his who worked at ''[[The Washington Post]]''. The partnership was unsuccessful and short-lived, resulting in the paper being resold, which enabled Hughes to accept further administrative appointments.
In 1991, he was asked to chair President [[George H. W. Bush]]'s bipartisan Task Force on the future of US government international broadcasting. In 1992 he was appointed Chairman of a joint Presidential-Congressional Commission on Broadcasting to the [[People's Republic of China]]. In 1993, the [[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]] appointed Hughes to its Advisory Commission on Public Broadcasting to the World.
Hughes then accepted an offer from [[Brigham Young University]] (BYU) to begin the International Media Study Program. In 1995, [[Boutros Boutros Ghali]], the [[Secretary General of the United Nations]], requested
In 1996, [[Neal A. Maxwell]] called Hughes with concerns about the ''[[Deseret News]]'', a secular newspaper owned by [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. Maxwell solicited his advice on improving the paper's circulation. When Hughes returned from the [[United Nations]] he began work as a consultant for the ''Deseret News''. Following his counsel, the paper switched its distribution to morning rather than afternoon, which improved circulation. Following the success of this change, the board of directors asked Hughes to be the editor of the newspaper. Hughes accepted the position, and became the first non-[[Mormon]] editor of the ''Deseret News''. He filled that position for 10 years, until 2007,<ref name="benson"/> at which point he returned to BYU as a Professor in the Communications Department.
===Later years===
Hughes went to South Africa in 2007 to make a presentation to local media organizations.<ref>http://southafrica.usembassy.gov/wwwhnews070828c.html{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 2011 he received the National Council for International Visitors' Citizen Diplomat Media Award.<ref name="cortez"/> As of 2012 he continued to write a column<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/John-Hughes Commentary - John Hughes]</ref> for the ''Christian Science Monitor''. In 2014, he published an autobiography, ''Paper Boy to Pulitzer'', which he said he wrote for his children and grandchildren, and because “I thought I had a love story in me, and it’s about journalism. The greatest profession in the world.”<ref name="benson"/>
==Personal life and death==
Hughes and his wife Peggy, a BYU alumnus,
Hughes died on 14 December 2022, at the age of 92.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pulitzer Prize winner, former Deseret News editor John Hughes dies |url=https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/12/15/23511622/deseret-news-editor-john-hughes-dies-pulitzer-prize-byu |work=Deseret News |date=16 December 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
▲Hughes and his wife Peggy, a BYU alumnus, have a child, Evan. He has two other children – Mark and Wendy – through an earlier marriage to the late Libby Hughes. He has six grandchildren.
==Writings==
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*''Indonesian Upheaval'', 1967
* ''The End of Sukarno – A Coup that Misfired: A Purge that Ran Wild'', 2002, Archipelago Press, {{ISBN|981-4068-65-9}}
*''Paper Boy to Pulitzer'', 2014, {{ISBN|1891331477}}
==References==
*{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Keith S. |title=The Christian Science Monitor: Its History, Mission, and People |date=2012 |publisher=Nebbadoon Press}}
*[http://history.cfac.byu.edu/index.php/John_Hughes "Department Welcomes John Hughes to Faculty.” Comms Alumni Magazine. Brigham Young University. 2007:31.]
*[https://archive.
*[http://history.cfac.byu.edu/index.php/John_Hughes BYU School of Communications wiki]
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
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{{PulitzerPrize International Reporting}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, John}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:
[[Category:People from Neath]]
[[Category:Welsh journalists]]
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[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners]]
[[Category:The Christian Science Monitor people]]
[[Category:American officials of the United Nations]]
[[Category:Deseret News people]]
[[Category:United States Department of State spokespeople]]
[[Category:United States Assistant Secretaries of State]]
[[Category:Journalists from London]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Society of News Editors]]
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