Dana Bullen, Journalist And Press Freedom Advocate, Dies

By: Dana R. Bullen, who worked as a reporter and editor at The Washington Star before leading a group that advocates for a free press around the world, died Monday. He was 75.

Bullen died of cancer at his home in Alexandria, World Press Freedom Committee executive director E. Markham Bench said.

Bullen spent 21 years at the Star, covering the Supreme Court, Senate and the 1968 presidential campaign. He also served as the newspaper's foreign editor and wrote a weekly, syndicated column on constitutional law.

After the Star folded in 1981, Bullen led the World Press Freedom Committee, representing the group at the United Nations. He also organized international meetings about issues concerning a free press, such as how to support emerging independent news organizations in Eastern Europe following the Soviet Union's collapse.

Bullen retired as the group's executive director in 1996, but remained an adviser for another 10 years, during which press freedom on the Internet became a major concern.

In 2000, he was awarded the Inter American Press Association's Chapultepec Grand Prize in recognition of his work supporting press freedom.