People Remembered: James Wieghart

James Wieghart in 1992

James G. Wieghart, 76, a former editor of the New York Daily News and an OPC member, died of pneumonia February 21 in Clare, Michigan. “Jim helped us with publicity for our award dinners for a number of years, and he was a lovely man,” OPC Executive Director Sonya Fry said.

Wieghart was editor of the Daily News from 1982 to 1984 after working as a Washington correspondent. He began his career at The Milwaukee Journal and moved later to The Milwaukee Sentinel, which appointed him its Washington bureau chief in 1966. Still in Washington, he joined the Daily News in 1969 and covered the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations; the Defense Department during the waning years of the Vietnam War; and the White House during the Watergate scandal.

After leaving journalism, Wieghart worked for Senator Edward M. Kennedy and later was public information officer for the investigation into the Iran-contra affair.