Jim McFarlin ’74

Jim McFarlin ’74 of Champaign, Illinois,
was one of six outstanding journalists inducted
into the 2023 class of the Michigan Journalism
Hall of Fame in April for his outstanding
contributions to the profession.
McFarlin, a member of the Hope College
Board of Trustees, is an award-winning
author and freelance journalist with extensive
newspaper and media-relations experience. He
began his career at The Grand Rapids Press;
was next with The Flint Journal, where he won
an Associated Press award as an investigative
reporter; and was subsequently at The Detroit
News from 1979 to 1995, serving as pop music
critic, radio columnist and eventually the paper’s television critic. He was one of the first people of color in America to cover contemporary music for a major daily newspaper, and one of the first African Americans to cover television for a mainstream media outlet. Most recently, he has pursued a variety of projects as a freelance writer, including articles in publications such as People, Life, USA Today, Electronic Media, Black Enterprise, Men’s
Book Chicago and Drive, the national Subaru owner’s magazine (and also News from Hope College!); and writing or editing more than a dozen books.
hope.edu/mcfarlin