Curtis D. MacDougall

Curtis Daniel MacDougall (1903-1985) was an American journalist, skeptic and writer.[1][2]

MacDougall was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He obtained a BA in English from Ripon College in 1923 and a Master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 1926). In 1933, he received his PhD in sociology from the University of Wisconsin. He joined the Northwestern faculty in 1935. MacDougall worked for the St. Louis Star-Times and United Press International. He also edited the Evanston Daily News and the Chicago Sun.[3]

MacDougall was the author of the influential text Interpretative Reporting (1938), which has been widely cited. William David Sloan has commented that "his many books, articles, and speeches helped set the tone and added to the debate surrounding journalism education for a half century."[2]

He authored two skeptical works Hoaxes (1958) and Superstition and the Press (1983). His book on hoaxes has been described as a classic on the subject. MacDougall defined a hoax as "a deliberately concocted untruth made to masquerade as truth."[4]

Publications

References

  1. "Curtis D. MacDougall". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 Sloan, William David. (1990). Makers of the Media Mind: Journalism Educators and Their Ideas. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 29-35. ISBN 0-8058-0698-9
  3. "Guide to the Curtis MacDougall (1903-1985) Papers". Northwestern University Library.
  4. Brunvand, Jan Harold. (2012). Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, Updated and Expanded Edition. ABC-CLIO. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-59884-720-8
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