Cook, Fred J.

Fred J. Cook (1911-2003) was an American investigative journalist. Born and raised in New Jersey, he graduated from Rutgers University and began his newspaper career in the 1930s at the Asbury Park Courier . He covered the 1937 Hindenburg disaster as editor of the New Jersey Courier . By 1945 was working for the New York World-Telegram and Sun, writing about crime and its political connections, and contributing regularly to national periodicals such as Nation, American Heritage, and the New York Time Magazine . He also wrote numerous books on political topics, including Alger Hiss, the FBI, Barry Goldwater, the Cuban Missile Crisis, organized crime, the Ku Klux Klan, and Watergate.

When Cook's 1964 book Goldwater: Extremist on the Right was published, it -- and Cook -- were attacked by Conservative evangelist and radio broadcaster Billy James Hargis on his radio show on station WGCB, based in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. Cook sued, arguing that under the Fairness Doctrine he was entitled to free air time to respond to the attack. Red Lion Broadcasting, the company that owned WGCB, decided to challenge the constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine. The case went to the Supreme Court as Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission in 1969, which resulted in the Court's ruling that the Fairness Doctrine was constitutional.

From the guide to the Fred J. Cook Papers, 1958-1967, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)