Inducted 2013
His career spanned 42 years as a newspaper reporter and editor – 11 years at the Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA., and 30 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He joined the P-D at the end of 1973. In his years on the City Desk and as an assistant managing editor, he put a heavy emphasis on investigative reporting, overseeing many major investigative series. He also was in charge of Sunday edition for many years.
In 1996, Richard was appointed managing editor and was credited with keeping the newsroom on an “even keel” during a period of management upheaval. Three years later, Weil became executive editor. He finished out his newspaper career as editor for investigative projects.
He retired in the summer of 2004, but within a couple years he came out of retirement as one of the founders and board president of the St. Louis Beacon, a not-for-profit online news source, which began publication in 2008. In December of 2013, the Beacon merged news operations with St. Louis Public Radio.
