Tim Crews, a longtime California newspaperman in rural Glenn County who, amid one of many public battles, noted his abundance of“good friends and quality enemies,” died in November at age 77. The small-town journalist described by Poynter as the “everything” of the Sacramento Valley Mirror — a founder, publisher, editor and owner who reported, took photos, sold ads and even delivered copies — had an outsized impact on the community he covered, crusading against government secrecy, and on the journalism profession, once serving five days in jail to protect a confidential news source, an ordeal that prompted a state law change. The First Amendment Coalition’s Board of Directors recently paid tribute to Crews in a full-page ad in the community newspaper with an uncertain future. Read Crews’ full obituary by the Associated Press, and learn more about the Mirror’s effort to continue publishing under the leadership of Donna Settle, managing editor and widow of Crews, because, “If they don’t report it, who will?”
