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Linda Deutsch

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Linda Deutsch
Deutsch in 2013
Deutsch in 2013
Born1943 (1943)
New Jersey, U.S.
Died (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationJournalist
Alma materMonmouth University

Linda Deutsch (1943 – September 1, 2024) was an American journalist who worked for the Associated Press (AP). She covered court cases for 50 years, from 1967 until her retirement in 2014, including the high-profile trials of Charles Manson, Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, O. J. Simpson and Michael Jackson.[1]

Early life and education

Deutsch was born in 1943 in New Jersey, and was raised in the town of Perth Amboy. She became interested in journalism at age 12, when she founded a newsletter for an Elvis Presley fan club.[2] She graduated from Monmouth University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1965.[1] She was encouraged to become a journalist by her uncle, a newspaper editor, despite journalism’s severe lack of gender diversity at the time.[3]

Career

While in college, Deutsch interned for a summer at the Perth Amboy Evening News.[2] That summer, when Deutsch was aged 20, she covered the 1963 civil rights march on Washington and heard Martin Luther King give his "I Have a Dream" speech. Her report on the event was her first front-page byline.[4][5]

After graduating from college, she moved to Southern California. She worked for The San Bernardino Sun for a short time.[2]

When Deutsch first joined the Associated Press in January 1967,[2][6] she was the only woman in the Los Angeles bureau.[7] Speaking on her experience as a woman in journalism at that time, she said in 2015, "I personally was never harassed...I was very fortunate in that aspect, but I think it was because [her colleagues] saw that I could do the job. You don’t harass somebody that's making you look good. And so the only discrimination, really, was in pay and in assignments".[6] Over the course of her career, she rose through the ranks and earned the title of special correspondent in 1992, a designation bestowed on only 18 reporters since the AP was founded in 1846.[1]

She went on to cover the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (1968)[6] and the trial of his assassin Sirhan Sirhan (1969),[2] and the trials of cult leader Charles Manson (1969-1971),[8] Daniel Ellsberg (1975),[2] abolitionist Angela Davis, music mogul Phil Spector (2009),[9] Patty Hearst, singer Michael Jackson, actor Robert Blake, serial killer Richard Ramirez,[10] and brothers Lyle and Erik Menéndez who were tried and convicted of killing their parents.[11] She also covered the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995 for the Associated Press.[12]

Besides trials, Deutsch covered a number of other events. In 1975 she was sent to Guam, where she interviewed evacuees from Vietnam following the Fall of Saigon. In 1992 she reported on the Rodney King riots.[2]

In 1997, Deutsch promoted the late Theo Wilson's memoir Headline Justice: Inside the Courtroom -- The Country's Most Controversial Trials on a book tour and at her own expense.[13]

Deutsch retired in 2014[10] but returned temporarily in 2019 to follow up with Simpson about his life after prison, a sentence he served for a 2008 conviction for robbery in Nevada.[14] That year, she also endowed journalism scholarships at her alma mater Monmouth University for $1 million.[1]

It was reported in 2014 that Deutsch was working on a memoir.[15][needs update]

Personal life and death

Deutsch never married or had children. Speaking on her life in 2015, she said "I have a godson who means the world to me. And I have a very full life, but it never included marriage. I think my relationships mostly broke up because of my work".[6]

Deutsch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2022. After a round of successful treatment, the cancer reappeared in the summer of 2024. She died at her home in Los Angeles on September 1, 2024 at the age of 80, from pancreatic cancer. Fellow AP journalist and friend Edith Lederer was among the family and friends present at Deutsch's death.[2]

Honors and awards

  • University of Missouri's Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, 1992[16]
  • Society of Professional Journalists “Fellow of the Society,” the organization's highest honor awarded for contributions to the journalism profession, 2005[17]
  • Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Women's Media Foundation, 2015[6]
  • Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington Press Club Foundation, which she received at the Congressional Dinner on February 25, 2016[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Veteran Associated Press Reporter and Monmouth U. Alumna Linda Deutsch Pledges $1 Million Planned Gift to University's Journalism Students". Monmouth University. 4 November 2019. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rogers, John (2024-09-02). "Linda Deutsch, AP trial writer who had front row to courtroom history, dies at 80". AP News. Archived from the original on 2024-09-02. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  3. ^ "Linda Deutsch". International Women's Media Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Q and A with Legendary AP Trial Reporter Linda Deutsch". Shiela Kuehl. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. ^ Deutsch, Linda (2013-08-27). "I Talked My Way Into the March on Washington | Essay". Zócalo Public Square. Archived from the original on 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  6. ^ a b c d e Forde, Kaelyn. "Meet The Woman Who Covered Every Big Celebrity Trial For The Past 50 Years". www.refinery29.com. Archived from the original on 2024-09-02. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  7. ^ Martínez Contreras, Gustavo. "She covered OJ, Manson, Michael Jackson: AP reporter Linda Deutsch gives $1M to Monmouth U". Asbury Park Press. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. ^ Deutsch, Linda (2017-11-20). "'This is crazy': Former AP reporter remembers Manson trial". AP News. Archived from the original on 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  9. ^ Deutsch, Linda (2009-04-14). "LA jury convicts Phil Spector in murder". Cape Cod Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2022-12-03. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  10. ^ a b "AP trial reporter Linda Deutsch retiring after 46 years". Sfgate. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. ^ Deutsch, Linda. "Long Menendez Brothers' Trial Heads for Jury Room". AP. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. ^ Nelson, Joe (11 June 2014). "Veteran AP reporter Linda Deutsch had front-row seat to O. J. Simpson's 'Trial of the Century". San Bernardino Sun. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. ^ Colton, Michael. "DOING JUSTICE TO A TRIAL REPORTER'S MEMOIR". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  14. ^ Deutsch, Linda (10 June 2019). "AP Exclusive: OJ Simpson says 'Life is fine' after prison". AP. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. ^ Rogers, John (19 December 2014). "Linda Deutsch wraps up 48-year career with Associated Press". Press Democrat. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Missouri Honor Medal Winners by Year". University of Missouri. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  17. ^ "SPJ honors three as Fellows of the Society of Professional Journalists". Society of Professional Journalists. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  18. ^ Gangitano, Alex (22 February 2016). "Congressional Dinner to Feature Graham, Boxer". Roll Call. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
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