11 Facts About Byron Calame

Byron Calame worked at The Wall Street Journal for 39 years, retiring as deputy managing editor in 2004.

Byron Calame received a master's degree in political science at the University of Maryland in 1966.

Byron Calame served as an officer in the US Navy from 1961 to 1965.

Byron Calame joined the Journal in 1965 and served as a reporter, bureau chief and editor before being named the deputy managing editor in 1992.

Byron Calame received the 2005 Gerald Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2005 New York Financial Writers' Association Elliott V Bell Award, and the 2002 Society of American Business Editors and Writers Distinguished Achievement Award.

Byron Calame's focus on the nuts-and-bolts of newspapering and journalistic ethics drew sharp criticism, and some observers complained that he pulled his punches and was too restrained in criticizing the newspaper and its staff.

Byron Calame complained "Calame possesses a mandate that would allow him to boil the journalistic ocean if he so desired, but he usually elects to merely warm a teapot for his readers and pour out thimblefuls of weak chamomile".

Byron Calame was awarded the 2006 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism for six of his public editor columns.

Byron Calame severely criticized Judith Miller after the conclusion of the legal maneuvering over her controversial decision to go to jail in 2005 rather than reveal her sources of information.

Byron Calame challenged "shortcuts" she had taken in her reporting and concluded "the problems facing her inside and outside the newsroom will make it difficult for her to return to the paper as a reporter".

Byron Calame's views were hotly contested by Miller and her supporters, who contended that Calame was acting more like a management representative than an independent thinker.