Dave Berkman, an unrelenting critic of the contemporary news media, died on Dec. 31, 2015. He was 81. Berkman was a longtime columnist for the Shepherd Express, the host of the Friday evening “Media Talk” on Wisconsin Public Radio and a mass communications professor at UW-Milwaukee. Unafraid of speaking the truth as he saw it, Berkman often raised ire with his weekly “Media Musings” column in the Shepherd Express; toward the end of his teaching career, he reportedly advised students not to major in journalism, given the poor job prospects.
Berkman was an activist as well as an academic. He was chairman of the board of the Shepherd Express’ parent company, Alternative Publications Inc.; he served on the board of the Wisconsin ACLU; and took part in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Minority Task Force. Berkman’s ashes have been returned to his hometown, Brooklyn, N.Y.
