Lionel Van Deerlin was a print and broadcast journalist for 20 years before winning election to Congress in 1962.

A 1937 graduate of USC, where he was editor of the Daily Trojan, Van Deerlin worked on newspapers in San Diego, Minneapolis and Baltimore. A four-year Army veteran of World War II, with service in Italy, he was a staff member of Stars & Stripes (Mediterranean).

City editor of the old San Diego Journal, Van Deerlin later became news director of XETV, Channel 6, KFSD-TV (now KGTV) Channel 10 and KFSD (now KOGO) radio.

As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Van Deerlin encouraged competition in the telecommunications industry, conducting hearings that led to the breakup of AT&T. He supported full First Amendment rights for broadcasters. An academic chair in Communications is endowed in Van Deerlin's name at San Diego State University.

In retirement, he writes a column for the San Diego Union-Tribune.