MICHAEL DAYS: A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
By SANDRA LONG WEAVER
In tribute after tribute, Michael I. Days was referred to as a close friend, a loving husband, a mentor to many, and a great role model and father to his sons.
Days had a special connection with his colleagues, friends and family, making each person feel special. He knew how to listen and offer advice at the right moment. And he was there when support was needed to get through the tough times.
In an emotional speech that moved many in the audience to tears, his son Edward, recalled how Michael stood by him, guided him and continuously showed him love when he was difficult to manage as a teenager and young man.
During a journalism career that spanned more than 40 years, Days was a reporter at the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, New York, The Courier- Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Wall Street Journal. He joined the Philadelphia Daily News in 1986 and eventually became the newspaper’ s first Black editor 2005. Under his leadership, the Daily News won a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2010.
Days also worked as managing editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2011, before going back to head the Daily News in 2012.
When he retired in 2020 as vice president of diversity and inclusion of the Philadelphia Media Network, the parent company of both the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily News, Days joined Editors on Call. The consulting company, which is run by his wife, Angela P. Dodson, provides services to writers and others in need of their journalistic expertise.
2017. And he co-authored with his wife“ We’ ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America,” which will be released later this year.
Days was a lifetime member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the founding president of NABJ-Philadelphia, a chapter of the journalism group that was created in 2023. Prior to this, Days served as president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists( PABJ) and as a regional director of NABJ.
In 2017, Days was inducted in the NABJ Hall of Fame. He received numerous other journalism honors, including the 2014 Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership, and the Lillian Award for outstanding service to journalism from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
He served on the national board of the Associated Press Media Editors, the advisory board of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communication at Hampton University and the board of visitors at Temple University’ s School of Media and Communication.
Days, a devout Catholic, was selected as one of 125 persons of distinction by his alma mater, Roman Catholic High school of Philadelphia, in 2025 – at the school’ s 125th anniversary celebration..
He was active in the Sacred Heart Parish and the Knights of St. John in Trenton, New Jersey, where he lived for more than 40 years. A supporter of the College of Holy Cross Foundation, his wife said:“ He was the kind of person who wanted to serve.”
Photos Courtesy National Association of Black Journalists
Days authored“ Obama’ s Legacy: What He Accomplished as President” in
Michael I. Days died on October 18, 2025. He was 72 years old. n
Sandra Long Weaver was a managing editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where she was also vice president for newsroom operations.
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