Linda Deutsch Explained

Linda Deutsch
Birth Date:24 September 1943
Birth Place:Perth Amboy, New Jersey, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation:Journalist
Alma Mater:Monmouth University
Years Active:1967–2014

Linda Deutsch (September 24, 1943 – September 1, 2024) was an American journalist who worked for the Associated Press (AP) and covered court cases from 1967 until her retirement in 2014, including the high-profile trials of Charles Manson, Sirhan Sirhan, O. J. Simpson, and Michael Jackson.[1]

Early life and education

Deutsch was born on September 24, 1943, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey,[2] and was raised in the Jersey Shore community of Bradley Beach.[3] She became interested in journalism at age 12, when she founded a newsletter for an Elvis Presley fan club. She graduated from Asbury Park High School[3] and in 1965 from Monmouth University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English.[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.[4]

Career

While in college, Deutsch interned for a summer at the Perth Amboy Evening News. That summer, 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.[5] [6] After graduating, she moved to Southern California and joined The San Bernardino Sun for a short time.

When Deutsch first joined the Associated Press in January 1967,[7] she was the only woman in the Los Angeles bureau.[8] Speaking on her experience as a woman in journalism, 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." 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.

Deutsch covered the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (1968) and the trials of Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan (1969), cult leader Charles Manson (1970–1971),[9] Angela Davis (1971–1972), activist Daniel Ellsberg (1973), bank robber Patty Hearst (1976),[10] the Exxon Valdez oil spill (1989),[11] acquitted double murderer O. J. Simpson (1995),[12] murderer Phil Spector (2009),[13] singer Michael Jackson, actor Robert Blake, serial killer Richard Ramirez,[14] and parricidal brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez.[15] She became a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her role as a pool reporter at Simpson's trial.[16] The trial also marked her first time acting as a television journalist; her reporting was widely broadcast due to the Associated Press's neutral reputation.

In 1975, Deutsch was sent to Guam, where she interviewed evacuees from Vietnam following the Fall of Saigon. In 1992 she reported on the Rodney King riots. In 1997, she 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.[17]

Deutsch retired in 2014.[14] She returned temporarily in 2019 to follow up with Simpson about his life after imprisonment for a 2007 armed robbery in Nevada.[18] That year, she also endowed journalism scholarships at her alma mater Monmouth University for $1 million.

Personal life and death

Deutsch never married nor had children. She said of her life in 2015: "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."

Deutsch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2022. After a round of successful treatment, it reappeared mid-2024. She died at home in Los Angeles, on September 1, 2024, at the age of 80, surrounded by family and friends.[19]

Honors and awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Veteran Associated Press Reporter and Monmouth U. Alumna Linda Deutsch Pledges $1 Million Planned Gift to University's Journalism Students . Monmouth University . November 4, 2019 . March 1, 2020 . March 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200301200429/https://www.monmouth.edu/news/veteran-associated-press-reporter-and-monmouth-u-alumna-linda-deutsch-pledges-1-million-planned-gift-to-universitys-journalism-students/ . live .
  2. Web site: Linda Deutsch, The A.P.'s Dean of Courtroom Reporting, Dies at 80. Gabriel. Trip. September 4, 2024. The New York Times. September 4, 2024.
  3. https://www.monmouth.edu/commencement/2023-graduate-commencement-program/ 2023 Graduate Commencement Program
  4. Web site: Linda Deutsch . International Women's Media Foundation . March 1, 2020 . September 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240902153218/https://www.iwmf.org/community/linda-deutsch/ . live .
  5. Web site: Q and A with Legendary AP Trial Reporter Linda Deutsch . March 1, 2020 . Shiela Kuehl . March 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200301210536/https://supervisorkuehl.com/ap-trial-reporter-linda-deutsch/ . live .
  6. Web site: Deutsch . Linda . August 27, 2013 . I Talked My Way Into the March on Washington Essay . September 2, 2024 . Zócalo Public Square . en-US . February 27, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240227114041/https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2013/08/27/i-talked-my-way-into-the-march-on-washington/chronicles/who-we-were/ . live .
  7. Web site: Forde . Kaelyn . Meet The Woman Who Covered Every Big Celebrity Trial For The Past 50 Years . September 2, 2024 . www.refinery29.com . en . September 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240902153217/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2015/12/98017/linda-deutsch-celebrity-trials-associated-press . live .
  8. Web site: Martínez Contreras . Gustavo . She covered OJ, Manson, Michael Jackson: AP reporter Linda Deutsch gives $1M to Monmouth U . Asbury Park Press . March 1, 2020 . September 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240902153237/https://subscribe.app.com/restricted?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.app.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fhistory%2F2019%2F11%2F12%2Fap-reporter-linda-deutsch-monmouth-university-oj-simpson-michael-jackson-charles-manson%2F2566366001%2F&gps-source=CPROADBLOCKDH&gca-cat=p&slug=restricted&redirect=true&gnt-eid=control . live .
  9. Web site: Deutsch . Linda . November 20, 2017 . 'This is crazy': Former AP reporter remembers Manson trial . September 2, 2024 . AP News . en . July 21, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230721052502/https://apnews.com/article/241c4ea7873e4e8ab3284250faf6533a . live .
  10. Book: Mears, Frances R. . https://books.google.com/books?id=jxMLBzrbnFwC&dq=%22Linda+Deutsch%22&pg=PA42 . Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else . May 4, 2007 . Princeton Architectural Press . 978-1-56898-689-0 . 57; 83 . en . Crime and Punishment.
  11. Book: Killenberg, George . https://books.google.com/books?id=KZncAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA279 . Public Affairs Reporting Now: News Of, by and for the People . July 26, 2012 . CRC Press . 978-1-136-03322-3 . 279 . en . The Trial and Thereafter.
  12. Web site: Nelson . Joe . June 11, 2014 . Veteran AP reporter Linda Deutsch had front-row seat to O. J. Simpson's 'Trial of the Century . March 1, 2020 . San Bernardino Sun.
  13. Web site: Deutsch . Linda . April 14, 2009 . LA jury convicts Phil Spector in murder . September 2, 2024 . Cape Cod Times . en-US . Associated Press . December 3, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221203165744/https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/entertainment/events/2009/04/14/la-jury-convicts-phil-spector/52029834007/ . live .
  14. News: AP trial reporter Linda Deutsch retiring after 46 years . Sfgate . March 1, 2020 . March 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200301210539/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/AP-trial-reporter-Linda-Deutsch-retiring-after-46-5966849.php . live .
  15. Web site: Deutsch . Linda . Long Menendez Brothers' Trial Heads for Jury Room . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200301210534/https://apnews.com/ae7254df1bdb8ebe2956b6da8d610c2d . March 1, 2020 . March 1, 2020 . AP.
  16. Web site: Radel . Dan . She started in Asbury Park before covering some of the biggest trial stories ever . September 3, 2024 . Asbury Park Press . en-US.
  17. News: Colton . Michael . DOING JUSTICE TO A TRIAL REPORTER'S MEMOIR . Washington Post . March 1, 2020.
  18. Web site: Deutsch . Linda . AP Exclusive: OJ Simpson says 'Life is fine' after prison . AP . June 10, 2019 . March 1, 2020 . December 20, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191220183510/https://apnews.com/0fea103ed1014714a966bd75c475880d . live .
  19. Web site: Rogers . John . September 2, 2024 . Linda Deutsch, AP trial writer who had front row to courtroom history, dies at 80 . September 2, 2024 . AP News . en . September 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240902034620/https://apnews.com/article/linda-deutsch-associated-press-trials-oj-manson-40b73ccda0b811ed90553c219cee77e8 . live .
  20. Web site: Missouri Honor Medal Winners by Year . March 1, 2020 . University of Missouri . February 3, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203161304/https://journalism.missouri.edu/the-j-school/the-missouri-honor-medal/missouri-honor-medal-winners-by-year/ . live .
  21. Web site: SPJ honors three as Fellows of the Society of Professional Journalists . March 1, 2020 . Society of Professional Journalists . September 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240902153218/https://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=529 . live .
  22. Web site: Gangitano . Alex . Congressional Dinner to Feature Graham, Boxer . Roll Call . February 22, 2016 . March 1, 2020 . March 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200301210536/https://www.rollcall.com/2016/02/22/congressional-dinner-to-feature-graham-boxer/ . live .

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