Mentor to business journalists dies

James J. Lydon, longtime editor of Electronic News and mentor for many of the most influential people in high technology business journalism, died due to complications from cancer, reports Richard Wallace of EE News.Â

Wallace wrote, “A Korean war veteran, Jim Lydon joined the staff of Electronic News shortly after the newspaper was founded by Fairchild Publications, and was named editor in the early 1960’s, a position he held until his retirement in 1992. Under his guidance, the newspaper became an influential force in the emerging high technology businesses, particularly the semiconductor industry, where his contacts and access to top management were unmatched.

“Lydon’s reputation for tough but fair business reporting was anchored in his sense of responsibility to the reader, a tenet he passed on to numerous young journalists who got their start at Electronic News and went on to join the staffs of such publications as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week, or have taken leadership positions at competing high tech publications. Richard Bambrick, of a former Electronic News reporter and editor remembered Lydon as an indefatigable defender of the reader, an ethic he instilled in all of his reporters.”

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