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You may contact Dr. Brasch at brasch@walterbrasch.com or through his website, www.walterbrasch.com
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Walter Brasch

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Walter Brasch is an award-winning journalist and professor of journalism emeritus. His current books are Before the First Snow: Stories from the Revolution , America's Unpatriotic Acts: The Federal Government's Violation of Constitutional and Civil Rights, and 'Unacceptable': The Federal response to Hurricane Katrina, available at amazon.com, borders.com and most major on-line bookstores. BEFORE THE FIRST SNOW is also available at www.greeleyandstone.com (20 discount)

Walter Brasch, a deeply valued Senior Editor at OpEdNews passed from this world on February 9, 2017, age 71, his obituary follows:

Walter M. Brasch, Ph.D., age 71, of 2460 Second Street, Bloomsburg (Espy), died Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville surrounded by his family.

He was an award-winning former newspaper reporter and editor in California, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio; professor emeritus of mass communications and journalism at Bloomsburg University; and an award-winning social issues journalist and book author.

Walter was born March 2, 1945, in San Diego, the son of Milton Brasch and Helen (Haskin) Brasch and was a 34 year resident of Espy.

In his early years he was a writer-producer for multimedia and film companies in California, and a copywriter and political analyst for advertising and public relations companies. For five years during the late 1990s, he was the media and social issues commentator for United Broadcasting Network. He was also the author of a syndicated newspaper column since 1992 and the creative vice-president of Scripts Destitute of Phoenix.

Dr. Brasch was a member of the Local Emergency Planning Committee and was active in the Columbia County Emergency Management Agency. He was vice-president of the Central Susquehanna chapter of the ACLU, vice-president and co-founder of the Northeast Pennsylvania Homeless Alliance, a member of the board of the Keystone Beacon Community for healthcare coordination, and was active in numerous social causes. He was co-founder with his wife Rosemary Brasch of The Oasis, a biweekly newsletter for families and friends of personnel stationed in the Persian Gulf. Later, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, they published The Oasis 2, for families of persons in combat zones. They were supported by the Bloomsburg Chapter, America Red Cross and Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.

He was the author of 20 books, most which fuse historical and contemporary social issues. Among his books are Black English and the Mass Media (1981); Forerunners of Revolution: Muckrakers and the American Social Conscience (1991); With Just Cause: The Unionization of the American Journalist (1991); Sex and the Single Beer Can: Probing the Media and American Culture (1997); Brer Rabbit, Uncle Remus, and the 'Cornfield Journalist': The Tale of Joel Chandler Harris (2000); The Joy of Sax: America During the Bill Clinton Era (2001); Unacceptable: The federal Response to Hurricane Katrina (2005); America's Unpatriotic Acts: The Federal Government's Violation of Constitutional and Civil Rights (2006); Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush (2007);  and Before the First Snow (2011). He was co-author of The Press and the State (1986), awarded Outstanding Academic Book distinction by Choice magazine, published by the American Library Association.

His last book is Fracking America: Sacrificing Health and the Environment for Short-Term Economic Benefit (2015), a critically-acclaimed novel that looks at what happens when government and energy companies form a symbiotic relationship, using "cheaper, cleaner" fuel and the lure of jobs in a depressed economy but at the expense of significant health and environmental impact.

During the past two decades, he won more than 150 regional and national media awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Society of Professional Journalists, National Federation of Press Women, USA Book News, Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group, Pennsylvania Press Club, Pennsylvania Women's Press Association, Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association, Penn-writers, International Association of Business Communicators, Pacific Coast Press Club, and Press Club of Southern California. He was recognized in 2012 by the Pennsylvania Press Club with the Communicator of Achievement award for lifetime achievement in journalism and public service.

He was an Eagle Scout; co-recipient of the Civil Liberties Award of the American Civil Liberties Union, 1996; and was honored by San Diego State University as a Points of Excellence winner in 1997. In 2000, he received the Herb Caen Memorial Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. For the Pennsylvania Humanities Council he was twice named a Commonwealth speaker. He also received the meritorious achievement medal of the U.S. Coast Guard.

At Bloomsburg University, he earned the Creative Arts Award, the Creative Teaching Award, and was named an Outstanding Student Advisor. He received the first annual Dean's Salute to Excellence in 2002, a second award in 2007, and the Maroon and Gold Quill Award for nonfiction. He was the 2004 recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Service Award. For 22 years, he was Editor-In-Chief of the awarding-winning Spectrum Magazine, part of the journalism program of the Department of Mass Communications, Bloomsburg University until his retirement in 2010.  The community magazine was published twice a year by students for residents of Columbia and Montour counties in northeastern Pennsylvania and one of the few to be inducted into the national Associated Collegiate Press hall of fame. The magazine was also a consistent award winner in competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and the American Scholastic Press Association. He primarily taught magazine editing and production, public affairs reporting, feature writing, newspaper editing; every Fall, he taught a 250-student section on mass communications and the popular arts.

 Dr. Brasch was co founder of the qualitative studies division of the Association for Education in Journalism, president of the Keystone State professional chapter and for three years deputy regional director of the Society of Professional Journalists, from which he received the Director's Award and the National Freedom of Information Award. He was president of the Pennsylvania Press Club, vice-president of the Pennsylvania Women's Press Association, and founding coordinator of Pennsylvania Journalism Educators. He was a featured columnist for Liberal Opinion Week, senior correspondent for the American Reporter, senior editor for OpEdNews, and an editorial board member of Journalism History and the Journal of Media Law and Ethics.

He was a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Author's Guild, National Writers Union (UAW/AFL-CIO), The Newspaper Guild (CWA/AFL-CIO), and the Society of Environmental Journalists. He was a life member of the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, and was indicted into the national scholarship honor societies Phi Kappa Phi (general scholarship), Kappa Tau Alpha (journalism), Pi Gamma Mu (social sciences), and Kappa Tau Alpha (sociology.) He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the East, Contemporary Authors, Who's Who in the Media and Who's Who in Education. Dr. Brasch earned an A.B. in sociology from San Diego State College, an M.A. in journalism from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. in mass communication/journalism, with a cognate area in both American government/public policy and language and culture studies, from The Ohio State University.

He is survived by his wife of 34 years, the former Rosemary Renn the most wonderful thing that happened in his life and whom he loved very much; two sons, Jeffery Gerber, Phoenix AZ and Matthew Gerber and his wife, Laurel  (Neyhard)  of Bloomsburg, a sister, Corey Brasch of Sacramento, Calif; a niece, Terri Pearson-Fuchs, Calif, numerous cousins; and his beloved dogs Cabot and Remy.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m. at the Dean W. Kriner Inc. Funeral Home & Cremation Service,  325 Market St., Bloomsburg with family friend, Nathaniel Mitchell officiating. Interment in Elan Memorial Park, Lime Ridge.

Friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday from 6 - 8 p.m. or Wednesday from 1-2 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Walter M. Brasch Scholarship Fund,

c/o First Keystone Community Bank, 2301 Columbia Blvd, Bloomsburg, PA 17815 or to

Mostly Mutts, 284 Little Mountain Rd., Sunbury, PA 17801

 

www.walterbrasch.com

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(2 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Geo Beach: A Swamp Yankee in the Last Fontier Reality TV is something Geo Beach readily discusses, especially since his History Channel Show about Alaska is NOT Reality TV. In this probing 2,300-word article, award-winning journalist Walter Brasch looks at award-winning journalist Geo Beach, Reality TV, Alaska, and some issues that people in the "Lower 48" should probably know.
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(9 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tarnished Shields: The Morally Bankrupt 'Family Values' Republican Leadership Gov. Mark Sanford and Sen. John Ensign aren't the only Republican leaders to have committed adultery, lied about it, and asked for forgiveness; they're just two of a large number of hypocrits to their "family values" speeches.
From ImagesAttr
(4 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Saturday, July 13, 2013
"Putting People over Profits': The Fight Against Fracking A majority of Pennsylvanians want a moratorium on fracking. We know Gov. Tom Corbett, the republican-controlled legislature, and Big Energy don't. So, who also opposes this moratorium. This article reveals surprises.
(17 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Media Auto Know Better: Fueling the Anti-Union Fires A large number of mass media pundits, columnists, and bloviators are looking at the "Why" behind the economic problems. Unfortunately, they are looking at the workers and their unions as the problem, instead of looking at the managers who caused the problem.
(3 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Saturday, December 20, 2008
One Leg Raised on the Bush-Cheney Legacy: Deconstructing the Spin and Propaganda In a major 2,500-word analysis, award-winning journalist and social activist Walter Brasch deconstructs propaganda put out by the Republican National Committee that paints Democrats as "radical leftists" who are out to destroy American freedoms and business.
From ImagesAttr
(2 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Monday, September 10, 2012
Grade Inflation; Education Degradation Grade inflation has led to a deterioration of knowledge and abilities. Prof. Walter Brasch explains.
pigeons stuffed into barrel, From ImagesAttr
(7 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Saturday, October 25, 2014
NRA Continues Policy of Animal Cruelty The NRA continues to support animal cruelty. This is an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at its influence upon the largest state legislature in the country.
(2 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Painful Cost of 'Breed Standards' In an attempt to maintain 'breed standards' for cosmetic appearance, breeders and members of the American Kennel Club routinely mutilate dogs' ears and tails. The 76,000-member American Veterinary Medical Association, and police and military dog handlers, opposes "cropping" and "docking" for cosmetic reasons, but the practice continues.
(1 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Thursday, May 20, 2010
ACLU Sues School for Invasion of Privacy A student's right to privacy extends into schools. However, a pennsylvania school district violated a student's Constitutional rights by seizing a cell phone and then turning private and non-distributed photos to the D.A.
Bernie Sanders for President, From FlickrPhotos
(36 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Tuesday, May 24, 2016
History Must Not Repeat Itself: How the Democrats Could Lose the Presidency--Again Hillary Clinton may become the Democratic nominee for president, but she may lose the presidency if she does not consider the wisdom and beliefs of Bernie Sanders. The Dems. lost elections in 1968 and 2000 when they couldn't unite the party.
Basketball hoop, From ImagesAttr
(4 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Sunday, April 12, 2015
A Call for Fair Pay for College Athletes Let's call it as we see it -- sports are more important than education in many of America's colleges.
(4 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Sunday, September 7, 2008
No Wolf Whistles for Sarah Palin's Compassion Sarah Palin is the subject of hundreds of commentaries. Dr. Brasch, in NOT commenting upon Palin, comments upon a lot of problems, one of the most significant being that is is truly not pro-life.
Congress and the NRA, From ImagesAttr
(48 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Saturday, July 11, 2015
Gun Control and the NRA The confederate flag is now down from in front of the S.C. state capitol. But, the discussion about flags has marred the real issue facing America--the continuing influence of the NRA--and the cowardice of Democrats to speak out on critical issues.
Olympic flame, From ImagesAttr
(32 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Friday, February 7, 2014
The Propaganda Olympics The 2014 Sochi Olympics has some remarkable parallels to another Olympics.
(9 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Monday, February 15, 2010
FOUND: U.S. Constitution Sarah Palin doesn't think the U.S. needs a professor of law. After Cheney and Bush tried to shred the Constitution, this is exactly what the nation needs.
Various rifle firearms, From FlickrPhotos
(13 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Saturday, November 28, 2015
Terrorism on American Soil Americans have far more to worry about from American terrorists and the NRA than they do from ISIS or any foreign terrorist organization.
Pauley Perrette aka Abby Sciuto from NCIS, From ImagesAttr
(4 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Sunday, July 26, 2015
'NCIS' Again Skunked--Except by the People One of the best TV dramas has again been snubbed by the Emmys. Here's why.
From ImagesAttr
(3 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Thursday, March 22, 2012
FRACKING: Corruption a Part of Pennsylvania's Heritage Corruption and politics may be at the root of why Pennsylvania has allowed near-unlimited drilling for natural gas--at the expense of health and environment.
Ben Shapiro, From FlickrPhotos
(49 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Saturday, August 6, 2016
Free Speech Not Present at Some Universities He's a journalist. He's a Harvard law school graduate. He's also one of the most controversial ultra-rightwing speakers who have been banned from American colleges. Here's why.
(2 comments) SHARE More Sharing        Sunday, July 11, 2010
Heat Wave Washes Away American Ideals: LeBron James, the Media, and the American Soul The media hype on the LeBron James "Decision" reflects a lot about American values.

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