Charles Klotzer

The first issue of the St. Louis Journalism Review (SJR) was published in September 1970. It was the brainchild of Rose and Charles Klotzer, who had received a copy of the Chicago Journalism Review (CJR) and decided that the St. Louis metro area deserved a similar journal covering and investigating the local print and broadcast media. The Klotzers were also publishing FOCUS/Midwest magazine since 1962, a journal covering social, racial and political events, primarily in Missouri and Illinois. (FOCUS/Midwest was merged with SJR in 1983.)

CJR was conceived by a group of Chicago journalists, who felt that the Chicago media had misrepresented what happened at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Unlike the Chicago media who described the unrest as a student riot, the journalists knew by their own observations that it was a police riot. After CJR and SJR were published, the concept of journalism reviews spread throughout the country. In the early ‘70s, close to 30 local reviews were founded usually by journalists. These volunteer efforts gradually folded within a few years, so that today SJR is the only local journalism review being published.

Both print and broadcast journalists have been instrumental in editing and writing for SJR from the very first issue. Since its first issue, interested journalists, academics and others involved in media have met once a month to critique the past issue and plan for the next issue. For a few hours, they shed their professional identity and become SJR addicts. Over the years, SJR has been edited by a number of distinguished journalists and hundreds of writers have appeared in its pages. Since its founding, SJR has been honored with 28 major awards.  The direction of SJR was established in the first issue. For the first time the public (and editors) learned about the Joint Operating Agency under which the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had joined their business operations. Other groundbreaking articles that the general media have ignored have earned SJR a loyal following.In 1995, SJR moved to Webster University, which subsidized the publication until the end of 2006. Currently, it is directed by its board, which has been significantly expanded.