William Worthy | Defiant journalist, 92
William Worthy, 92, a foreign correspondent who defied travel bans to Cold War adversaries of the United States, died May 4 at a nursing home in Brewster, Mass., according to the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He was a Nieman Foundation fellow from 1956 to 1957.
William Worthy, 92, a foreign correspondent who defied travel bans to Cold War adversaries of the United States, died May 4 at a nursing home in Brewster, Mass., according to the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He was a Nieman Foundation fellow from 1956 to 1957.
Mr. Worthy, a reporter for the Baltimore Afro-American and correspondent for CBS News, defied travel restrictions by traveling to China in the 1950s. The government refused to renew his passport, so he visited Cuba in the early 1960s without one. On his return, he was convicted of entering the country illegally. A federal court later declared the law unconstitutional.
His case inspired folksinger Phil Ochs to celebrate him in "The Ballad of William Worthy."
Mr. Worthy again challenged the government by reporting from Iran in the early 1980s after the Islamic revolution toppled the shah.
The Nieman Foundation presented Mr. Worthy with the 2008 Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism in 2008. - AP