Editors: Death of a Conscience

The enlightened Southern editor waging his fearless and lonely fight against prejudice has become a journalistic stereotype. Yet the death last week of the Atlanta Constitution's Ralph McGill, two days before his 71st birthday, was a painful reminder of just how rare such men are. For four decades his daily column caressed the South with his love, lashed it for its faults, served as its conscience. Surveys repeatedly rated him as both the region's best-liked and least-liked writer—but always the most read. Even his haters could not ignore him, because, as one...