Michael I. Days, who made history as the first Black top editor at the Philadelphia Daily News, died on Oct. 18 in New Jersey after suffering a heart attack in his Trenton, New Jersey, home. He was 72 years old.
“We will miss our friend dearly—his wisdom, compassion and dedication to journalism,” reads a statement from the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, of which Days had served as the founding president since 2023.
“His loss leaves a profound void in our organization and our hearts.”
NABJ is saddened by the passing of Michael Days. He was an accomplished journalist and life member of NABJ, 2017 NABJ Hall of Fame & serving president of the Philadelphia chapter. He will be deeply missed and forever remembered within the NABJ family. pic.twitter.com/L3n31526ZP
— #NABJ Headquarters ✊🏾🖊️🎙️💻 📷 🎥 📝 🔈 (@NABJ) October 19, 2025
Born in 1953, Days was raised in North Philadelphia by his mother, Helen Boles Days, a Gullah Geechee woman who came to Pennsylvania during the Great Migration. A Baptist by birth, she brought Michael and his siblings into the Catholic Church during their early childhood. He graduated from Roman Catholic High School and later studied philosophy at College of the Holy Cross before earning a master’s in journalism from the University of Missouri.
Days’ first journalism roles came in the 1970s in Louisville, Kentucky, and Rochester, New York, before he returned to his hometown to write for the local bureau of The Wall Street Journal. He later relocated to Trenton and was hired at the Daily News in 1986.
After serving in various roles at the Daily News, including business editor and managing editor, Days became the first Black executive editor in 2005. He was one of few Black Americans at the time to lead a major newspaper.
Under his leadership, the paper won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting for a series on police corruption. The next year—during a protracted ownership struggle concerning Philadelphia's two largest papers—Days briefly served as managing editor for the Inquirer before returning to the Daily News in 2012 to lead the broadsheet before its merger with the Inquirer and Philly.com.
Days released his first book, “Obama's Legacy: What He Accomplished as President,” to positive reviews in 2016, just ahead of a national political shift with the election of Donald Trump to the White House.
After serving as the merged Philadelphia Media Network's vice president and editor for reader engagement, in 2018 he became VP for diversity and inclusion. Days also continued working to inspire a new generation of journalists, including as a mentor for young professionals and as director of the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop. He was especially noted for supporting Black journalists and those aspiring to the field.
Days retired from PMN in 2020, though he continued to serve in the media world, including as a co-managing editor for Marcom Weekly and with his wife as operators of Editors on Call.
Days was also an advocate on religious matters, remaining a devout Catholic throughout his life. Following the formal closure of the historically Black St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in South Philadelphia in 2022, Days assisted former parishioners in their ongoing fight to reverse the decision and preserve the historic African-American site.
Nate Tinner-Williams
In 2023, Days became the founding president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, and recently completed the manuscript for a forthcoming book with his wife Angela Dodson, “We've Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America.”
Days served on boards for various media organizations during his career, including the Associated Press Media Editors, the News Leaders Association, the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communication at Hampton University, Temple University's School of Media and Communication, the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, and the Pennsylvania Society of News Editors.
He also received a litany of awards, including the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership from APME and the American Society of News Editors in 2014. He was inducted into the NABJ Hall of Fame in 2017, and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Hall of Fame in 2024. He was also awarded the Lillian Award by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., for his service to journalism, and was twice honored by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, of which he was a longtime member.
"Great people make great journalists, and Michael Days was both," said NABJ President Errin Haines in a statement.
"Our profession and our beloved organization are better for his work and his generosity. His leadership was rooted in service: to his hometown, to the truth, to so many of the journalists he mentored, and to NABJ."
Following his death, Days was honored by the Philadelphia City Council with a resolution honoring his life of service and outspoken voice for media diversity, with several admirers rising to speak in support of his legacy during the livestreamed public meeting.
“Our city is better because of his work at the Daily News and Inquirer, and I'm better as a person and as a journalist for having had him as a boss, an editor, mentor, and a friend,” said Jenice Armstrong, an Inquirer columnist and member of its editorial board.
In the wake of Days’ passing, the Philadelphia NABJ chapter announced the creation of the Michael I. Days Scholarship Fund, which will support young journalists studying to work in the journalism field.
Days was preceded in death by his mother, Helen, and a son, Adrian. He is survived by his wife, Angela; sister, Vera; sons, Edward, Andrew, and Umi; and grandchildren, Makayla, Marcel, Myles and Messiah.
A visitation for Days will take place at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Trenton on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 10am ET. A funeral Mass will follow at noon. A reception will take place at the Mountain View Golf Club in Ewing, New Jersey.
Flowers can be sent to the family via the Campbell Funeral Chapel in Trenton. Donations are also encouraged to Days’ alma mater, College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts; St. Rose of Lima School in Philadelphia; the Dodson, Dotson, and Hairston Family Scholarship Fund of Marshall University; and the Michael I. Days Scholarship Fund.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
