Bryan Monroe

Bryan Monroe, a beloved leader in journalism and former deputy managing editor of The Mercury News, has died.

Monroe, 55, died of a heart attack Wednesday morning at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, the National Association of Black Journalists announced.

“Bryan has been a trailblazer in our industry for years,” NABJ President Dorothy Tucker said in a written statement. “We are both shocked and deeply saddened by his passing. He helped countless journalism professionals and students to hone their skills in achieving excellence in their craft.”

Monroe was president of the NABJ from 2005 to 2007 — one of many leadership roles he held during an illustrious career that inspired many of those who worked with him.

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Most recently, he was a professor and chair at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication.

Prior to that, he was the editor of CNN’s online politics site, where he led editorial planning for online and mobile political coverage.

Monroe’s career at the Mercury News began in 1991, after he had already been a photojournalist at The Seattle Times and other newspapers, according to his LinkedIn page and interviews with people who knew him.

David Yarnold, a former executive editor of The Mercury News, hired Monroe as an assistant managing editor of graphics.

“He was an extraordinarily talented guy who understood how to blend words and pictures in a powerful design,” said Yarnold, who is now president and CEO of the National Audubon Society. “There wasn’t anything about newspapering that he couldn’t do.”

Yarnold said he was stunned to hear of his dear friend’s passing, having just spoken to Monroe last week.

“He was compulsively creative, he was joyful. He was a fierce advocate for journalists of color and for great journalism,” said Yarnold. “He did it all with grace and with great intelligence. He was a natural leader, and excellent journalists gravitated toward him.”

Others hailed Monroe’s ability to inspire and encourage.

Michael Malone, a former Mercury News director of photography and currently picture editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, described Monroe as an “incredible mentor” who always took the time to look at a portfolio or provide encouraging words.

“The world needs more Bryan Monroes right now,” Malone said.

Monroe held a variety of positions at The Mercury News and ultimately was promoted to assistant vice president of news at Knight Ridder Newspapers, the then-owner of The Mercury News, where he headed teams covering major news events. While at Knight Ridder, Monroe helped lead journalists at the Biloxi Sun Herald in coverage of Hurricane Katrina that earned the 2006 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service.

Monroe was also vice president and editorial director at Ebony and Jet magazines, leading coverage of the 2008 presidential election and conducting the first interview with President Barack Obama after he was elected.

“It was an extraordinary interview and was one of the reasons I told CNN’s leadership that we should hire Bryan Monroe as our Political Editor,” Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief and senior vice president, told a CNN reporter. “I’ve never met someone who was as comfortable in any environment — whether with a group of politicians, students, Black journalists, or White journalists. Bryan navigated those worlds better than anybody and the bridges he built between people and between groups will be around a long, long time.”

Monroe also did the last major interview with pop icon Michael Jackson before his death, which he wrote about for CNN.

Monroe was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and taught as a visiting professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Monroe was also a board co-chair at the International Women’s Media Foundation.

“Bryan was a loving and generous friend — a loyal and trusted confidant who infused optimism and hope into every situation,” said the IWMF’s board vice-chair and CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, in a written statement. “Bryan’s greatest gift was his ability to connect so many people and bring out the best in them.”

In a message to faculty and staff Wednesday, Klein College Dean David Boardman called Monroe “a loyal friend, loving father, a gifted journalist and caring, dedicated teacher” and noted Monroe’s advocacy for coverage of underrepresented communities and for journalists of color.