William D. “Scotty” James
1915 - 1998

Inducted June 8, 2006

From 1947 until the early ‘60s, longtime Great Falls Tribune Editor William D. “Scotty” James Scotty had many claims to fame as a reporter and editorial writer, including ground-breaking pieces about politics, prison policies and daily life across the Tribune’s wide circulation area.

But it was during the subsequent two decades in the editor’s chair that he truly distinguished himself. As editor of the one daily in the state that hadn’t worn the “Copper Collar” of the Anaconda Co., he set the standard for journalism in Montana during the time when Lee Enterprises was purchasing the Anaconda Co. papers and re-establishing them as independent newspapers.

One of the most important moves under his watch was establishment by the Tribune of a credible bureau in the state Capitol, a move that was then matched by the competition.

James also established a precedent by covering national political conventions – at a time when those conventions generated actual “news.”

James was the son of a Sand Coulee coal miner, and his parents must have been remarkable, because one son, Scotty, became the respected journalist; another, Ted, was a lawyer who served as lieutenant governor and chairman of the Board of Regents.

Veteran Tribune reporter Peter Johnson, whom James hired in the mid-1970s, remembers that Scotty “frequently encouraged younger reporters, praising their stories and giving them early opportunities.” He remembers being assigned, in his first or second year at the Tribune, to interview Mike Mansfield, then majority leader of the U. S. Senate. Mansfield, it turned out, had been a good friend of Scotty’s ever since he was a student at the university in Missoula.

James gave similar starts and encouragement to scores of journalists who have gone on to populate the profession across Montana and beyond.

All remember many mornings coming to work to find clippings and tear-sheets on their desks, distributed earlier in the morning by James after his wide readings from the night before. Sometimes the clippings related to the neophytes’ beats; other times they were on topics James knew were of special interest to the young staffers.

All of Scotty’s journalistic progeny also remember that he took a personal and affectionate interest in their families.

James was a strong supporter of Montana’s new constitution back in 1972, and in Great Falls he was a driving force in the elimination of a corrupt political ward system that nearly pushed the city into bankruptcy.

William D. James died in the summer of 1998, two years after receiving the Montana Newspaper Association’s Master Editor-Publisher award during the annual convention in Livingston.

He remained a voracious reader to the very end, and never lost his sharp big-picture analytical knack or his love for journalism and journalists.

He set a standard that raised the quality of journalism in Montana during a crucial time in the state’s history. For that alone he deserves induction into the Montana Newspaper Hall of Fame.

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