Having been inducted Sept. 24 into the Missouri Newspaper Hall of Fame, I am in the company of some of this nation’s and this state’s best-known journalists, but... Should I be embarrassed to be in the company of such men as Joseph Pulitzer and William Rockhill Nelson? A popular pastime now is for people who have done little or nothing with their lives to inflate their sense of selfworth by discrediting the worth and accomplishments of successful people. I am not one of those people. But I understand being a hater when considering Pulitzer is easy. He pioneered and profited from the misery created by yellow journalism, Simon Michael Bessie wrote in his seminal book, “Jazz Journalism.” “Although these days his name is somewhat synonymous with journalism of the highest standards – through association with the Pulitzer Prize established by provisions in his will – Joseph Pulitzer had a very different reputation while alive. After purchasing The New York World in 1884 and rapidly…