FRESNO – George Gruner, who worked for 33 years at The Fresno Bee, including seven years as executive editor, has passed away as of Aug. 25 at the age of 99.
Gruner made headlines in 1976 when he and three other Bee journalists went to jail rather than divulge a source for an article. The “Bee Four” were locked up for 15 days before being released. They never divulged the source.
Jim Boren worked for Gruner at The Bee. Boren is now the executive director of the Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State. He said Gruner always had his reporters’ backs.
“He was very supportive of his journalists. He always backed them up,” he said. Gruner eschewed complacency; he wanted his reporters on the beat, not in the newsroom.
“He always encouraged us to go out and get stories. He didn’t like people reporting from the office. He wanted them to get out in the community and talk to everyday people and get a good understanding of the pulse of the community,” said Boren.
ACCURACY IS EVERYTHING
Boren said everything he teaches in his advanced reporting classes he learned from Gruner.
“He said accuracy is everything. He wanted us to double check facts. If you get a basic fact wrong, it hurts your credibility,” said Boren.
Boren considered Gruner his mentor and the two continued their friendship long after Gruner retired from The Bee in 1988. He said Gruner was a lifelong supporter of local news and was concerned that newsrooms were getting smaller.
“He was worried there were few resources and fewer people covering important issues in the community,” he said, noting examples of coverage for city council, school board and board of supervisors meetings.
Boren said Gruner also wanted his reporters to stay out of the stories.
“Be objective – report the facts without any personal bias. Present all sides of a story,” Gruner would say, said Boren.
Boren told The Fresno Bee, “All of us who worked at The Bee are branches of the Gruner Tree. He established quality journalism and invested in good people. We are all part of his legacy.”
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Gruner was born in Alameda. He was in high school when he got his start in journalism. He worked, briefly, for the Oakland Post-Examiner on the production side of the business. The paper let him go when it learned he was not of legal age to work there.
He found employment with Oakland Tribune doing the same work. Not long after, he moved to the reporting side of the industry.
Gruner served in World War II. According to The Bee, he served under General George Patton and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
After returning stateside, he resumed reporting duties with the Tribune. He married in 1952. The newlyweds traveled to Europe where Gruner landed a job with Stars & Stripes. The couple returned to California and he applied for a job at The Bee, where he got a job at the copy desk in February 1955, according to a report on Gruner from GV Wire.
As for his legacy, Gruner is honored through the George F. Gruner Awards for Meritorious Public Service in Journalism, which are handed out each year by Fresno State’s Department of Media, Communications and Journalism. The awards celebrate outstanding newspaper journalism in the Valley. Gruner attended the ceremony every year.
Boren told The Bee, “He was always there. “At age 99, he was there. He would not miss those awards for any reason. It shows his commitment to the cause. He was a special guy.”
Gruner’s wife, Irene, a Sanger native, died before him. He is survived by his son, Richard Gruner, and two granddaughters. A celebration of his life will take place at 11 a.m. on Oct. 26 at the Tolladay Theater at The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens.
