Robert M. Johnson

Robert M. Johnson (born July 14, 1945), former publisher of Newsday, is now better-known as one of the most prominent men so far accused of child pornography offenses. On August 4, 2006, he pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of destroying computer records , and was sentenced to fifteen months in federal prison on December 15, 2006. In 2004, citing personal reasons, he resigned as CEO of the financial information and document management firm Bowne & Co, as well as from his position as a member of the New York State Board of Regents.

The present article is concerned with Johnson's Newsday years, when he played a leading role in Long Island's governmental and environmental affairs, not only overtly as a dynamic public figure and an activist publisher, but also behind the scenes, particularly in his role as an influential board member of the Long Island Association.

Newsday publisher 1986–1994

Johnson served as publisher of Newsday during a difficult and eventful period in the Long Island daily newspaper's history, from 1986 to November 1994. During his tenure, Newsday made the transition to full-color printing, and tried to maintain a New York City edition. Johnson was responsible for Newsday's wholesale hiring of top journalists away from the city's other dailies; at one point its roster of columnists and critics was arguably the most prestigious...
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