In Black America; The Houston Defender Newspaper; Comedian Whoopi Goldberg

I'm John Hanson, join me this week on in Black America. We've now moved our publication from the Thursday to Sunday, becoming America's first Black Sunday newspaper to be distributed on Sunday. The Houston Defender newspaper and comedian Woopy Goldberg this week on in Black America. This is In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society. We've now become Houston's leading Black newspaper as a result of our circulation primarily because we are so diversified, John, in that the paper has taken on home delivery, which

is an aspect that's not utilized very much in Texas and not very much across the country. There are certain major market areas, but in Houston we're the first and with that in mind when you consider how Houston is made geographically, then the best way to get to your readers is to deliver to their home that makes it more accessible and more convenient to them. And by moving to Sunday, then it even makes it better because that's the highest readership day. From Messiah Jowls, publisher and editor of the Houston Defender newspaper in Houston, Texas, the Black press in this country is heir to a great and largely unharrowed tradition. The first Black newspaper in this country was the Freedom Journal, which appeared in New York City on March 16, 1827. Freedom's journal sought to plead the case of Black Americans before the American public. The North Star newspaper dedicated itself to much of the same cause when its first

edition appeared in Rochester, New York on December 3, 1847. Black newspapers in this country set the goal of keeping Blacks informed on vital issues and creating an appropriate form for voicing Black sentiments on such issues as exposing political injustice and corruption and to make Blacks more aware of their contributions and achievements. I'm John A.L. Hansen, Jr. This week, comedian Woopie Goldberg and the Houston Defender newspaper with publisher and editor, Ms. Sonny Messiah Jowls, in Black America. The thing that we've done as a result of that home delivery on the result of that survey is that we've now moved our publication from the Thursday print day to Sunday becoming America's first Black Sunday newspaper to be distributed on Sunday.

It doesn't mean that the paper is dead after Sunday. In fact, it acts more of a calendar of events and with the objective of having the community act on issues instead of reacting to issues. So with that theme in mind, the whole paper is directed towards perspectives and analysis of things that are upcoming so that people are able to respond to them and to act on them as I said earlier as opposed to reacting to them. Sonny Messiah Jowls is the graduate of the University of Houston. She has worked as a public relation assistant, a news reporter for a local Houston radio station and as an account and sailed executive for two Houston newspapers. In October of 1981, Sonny Messiah Jowls purchased the Houston Defender newspaper since that purchase, the newspaper has tripled its circulation, establishing the defender as the leading black newspaper in Houston, Texas. The interest in journalism really originated in college.

I had the opportunity to take elected courses my last semester in school and I chose to take communication courses with a concentration heavier on the journalism side as opposed to the electronic side, more print than electronic. And with that, that was the birth of a journalist, and since that time, and I've worked at radio stations, newspapers and television stations. When did you become interested in purchasing the Houston Defender? Well, after graduating from college, what I did was to make a decision on which medium I wanted to work with was to take internships at different organizations. The Houston Defender was one of the newspapers that I did have an internship at and as a result I became a associate editor. From that point on, then history developed in me being able to purchase the paper in 1981. And now we have taken another historical mold that I'm sure will have the opportunity to mention later on.

When you said associate editor, are there different definitions for associate editor and a majority newspaper versus a black-owned and operated newspaper? I think so, when you have a smaller staff of people, then as a result, you end up having more responsibilities as an associate editor as opposed to maybe an associate editor at a general market paper. A associate editor was almost like a catch-all at this particular paper with the Houston Defender during its earlier years because the owner at that time was in his seventies and he really needed somebody to manage the office. Although I was doing it as an internship initially, it became a full-time job and then it became more of a personal commitment of my own because I wanted to see the papers grow and succeed. What type of sacrifice one must undertake to be a publisher of a black-owned newspaper? Initially, I purchased the paper I was twenty-six years old and as a result, the financial responsibilities were great but even more so, the workload was horrendous because I worked

a full-time job and I continued to put the paper out. I think that mentally is stressful, it kills your social life totally and then as a result then, you end up not being able to do a lot of the things that you want but I think it's all with the attempt that you've made a commitment to the business and once the business gets to the point where it can operate on its own, you'll reap the benefits in the long run. What is the current circulation of the Houston Defender? Currently, our circulation is sitting at thirty thousand. We've now become Houston's leading black newspaper as a result of our circulation. Primarily because we are so diversified, John, in that the paper has taken on home delivery, which is an aspect that's not utilized very much in Texas and not very much across the country. There are certain major market areas but in Houston, we're the first and with that in mind, when you consider how Houston is made geographically, then the best way to get to your readers

is to deliver to their homes that makes it more accessible and more convenient for them. And by moving to Sunday, then it even makes it better because that's the highest readership day. Now I'm quite sure you all did some analysis on home delivery and you had mentioned a Sunday edition. We did do an analysis on home delivery. For the last two years, we've done target marketing in certain areas to see what kind of response factor that we get from the readers. And we've got a very good response and especially in relationship to people reading the paper and responding. We've done things like report cards on candidates and monitoring which zip codes do we get higher responses from. And in most cases, the home delivery proved out. The thing that we've done as a result of that home delivery on the result of that survey is that we've now moved our publication from the Thursday print day to Sunday becoming America's first black Sunday newspaper to be distributed on Sunday.

It doesn't mean that the paper is dead after Sunday. In fact, it acts more of a calendar of events and with the objective of having the community act on issues instead of reacting to issues. So with that theme in mind, the whole paper is directed towards perspectives and analysis of things that are upcoming so that people are able to respond to them and to act on them as I said earlier as opposed to reacting to them. All has advertisers been to the new Sunday edition. Advertising is taking up and primarily because most people know across the country that Sunday is the highest readership day. Today, when people have time to read, as opposed to having to go to work and go to the red rays and rolling over the paper, I think you've seen probably commercials with a car, rolls over the commercial. Rolls over the newspaper three or four times before it's picked up. With Sunday and having the home delivery, people have more time to read. They want to read.

They're looking for something to deal with that time. And by providing people with a black newspaper, particularly in the black community, it feels avoid. And that void is created by the general market newspaper. One of the things that we found out done that was really amazing to me was how small a circulation of the general market newspaper is in the black community. But then after doing a little bit more analysis as to why is it so low, we found out in the Sunday newspaper, which is the biggest newspaper for most daily, there's less than five to ten percent editorial copy on minorities, not blacks, I'm saying minorities, which includes blacks, Hispanic, and Asians. And in most cities, well, in the case of Houston, minorities, when you add them all up, make up more than 50 percent of the community. And that's pretty, that's not a very good story to have to tell, but when you understand the general market media are there for the purpose of giving you a general perspective, you would think that they would incorporate more information about different ethnic groups.

So that even pointed up more why the Houston defender was needed in this particular market. And we went forward with it. Did you have to add a staff to put out this on the edition? We did add a few more people. We added another photographer in order to give people more of a pictorial impact. We know the people like pictures. We've gone more to what you would call a MAGA paper, which is across between a magazine and a newspaper, because if you know the Sunday papers across the country usually come out on Saturday, and they're sold on Saturday, so they even operate on the MAGA paper, which means heavier features, more columns, not so much new, hard news. And as a result, that has caused us to add additional staff and even utilize community writers by having them as guest columnists to address some of the issues that are actually in the community, which puts us in even closer contact with the community than just reporting about them.

They're actually reporting themselves what's happening in their community. Those types of things have really helped. I think one of the other things that has contributed to the paper has been the fact that when you look at the advertisers, when you mention the advertisers, one of the things that we're saying to them is to extend an invitation to the black community to buy at their stores. And it's almost like having a party in the past where you have people, the cars aligned about side to the house, and like people drive by and say, oh, they're having a party. Or in this case, oh, they're having a sale. And we're going to go crash this party, and that's the only way they really know that a sale is taking place. What the defender is saying to most advertisers is if you extend an invitation to those people to actually shop at your location, you will get a loyal participant. And I think that's one of the things that a lot of advertisers are looking at today because everybody is experiencing two-something degree in economic crunch, and they want that additional market here.

And in order to get that market here, they've got to look for new markets. And I think the black and silver market is a market that's waiting to be tapped, all they're waiting for is an invitation. Are you seeing a heavy involvement of, I guess they say, the SIN products, tobacco, alcohol, automobile, our soap manufacturers, appliances, companies, et cetera, advertising in a defender? We have a cross of both. Of course, from the national perspective, you do have the heavy cigarette, alcohol, and automobile dealerships. And when you look at the local market, that's where you get the retailers, the grocers, appliance people as you refer to them. We do have fingers, and we have folies, and we're in the process of getting dealers. And there's some other people that experiences in our paper. So we have a nice cross section of retailers, but there are a whole lot of other retailers that should be in the paper, considering the percentage of blacks who either shop their

locations or the percentage of blacks that they could get to shop at their location. ADA is an election year. The U.S. defender, not only locally focusing in on candidates, but on a national level for the presidential election. Well, with the Super Tuesday event coming to catch us, there's going to be a lot more focus on a national perspective than probably in the past, because we will be playing somewhat of a role in who gets to position first, second, and last. With that in mind, then, I think that we will be giving additional coverage and a different perspective, particularly the black perspective, on the issues and what we think should be addressed from a national perspective. Will you all been endorsing any candidates? No, we don't endorse, and one of the reasons we've done is because we've found that in the past, oftentimes newspapers, for lack of a better word, are swayed by the dollar. In my opinion, it's the paper's goal and objective to be fair and to assess the candidates

and leaves, the decision of who should vote for whom, to the vote. I think that the community is saying now that we can take the initiatives ourselves. We don't have to wait on somebody else to do it for us. I think that groups, people are coming back to the church. I think people are coming back to the community to mobilize and to work towards accomplishing issues. I think we're more centralized now than we were before, because at one time it was a divide and conquer. You've got a better house than I have, but now I think like people realize that they're all in the same boat. I think we've gone through a transition, and I think that this is something that's happening across the country in some cities more than others. I think that the backlash of when you look at the Jimmy the Greek malcompanist and some of the other comments that has been made, the solidarity in the black community is occurring

because the reality is we still are dealing with that same mentality of 100 years ago. Are there any new sections included in the new Sunday edition of the Houston Defender? Yes, there are. We've added a very strong business section from the standpoint of we have a column called Business Highlights that deals with challenging different issues that are occurring in the business community, particularly related to black businesses, and we've also utilized it to spotlight people who are in corporate America in certain positions. We salute a businessman, and then we have a business column itself, which is stepping in the parts from the business highlights that has a guest columnist from the community, a business community, to talk about a subject that he thinks that needs to be relative to other black businesses. Oftentimes, that can be from leasing space to re-investing in the black community. Another thing that we've added is the school page, and the school page is a cross section

of everything from elementary junior high, I shouldn't call it junior high, I was corrected yesterday, middle school, high school, and college, in which this is where we focus on different issues, and we also spotlight a school a week, which gives us the opportunity to show some of the kids who have done outstanding things, but probably would never be covered in a newspaper. This topic has been discussed quite often at the National Association of Black Journalists, Conference, and Conventions. The use of majority newspaper writers who are black. Are they contributing some time to right stories that ordinarily wouldn't be received in the major newspapers and having them printed in the Houston Defender or other black newspapers? We have attempted to coalesce between some of the people. Now, when you talk about the daily newspapers, right, as daily newspapers, staff, like staff members, then, no, we haven't gotten the participation there.

We have an electronic side, and that may be because some people perceive that as a conflict of interest. We would welcome it, that's the sure. I think that one of the things that the newspaper is doing, the Defender itself, that to certainly we may cause some of the journalists to stand back, is that we have been very critical of the news media in general in their coverage of the black community. From the standpoint that they have been negligent, they have also been negative. And as a result, then, we feel as though, if you're going to project an image of the black community, at least give a fair assessment, give the pros and the cons, just focus on the cons. And an issue that has come up lately in Houston that is focused on the media has been the fact that a state representative recently barred one of the white members of the press from a press conference, and he allowed a black member of the press to enter as a result of the allegations of racism with thrown out, in which I think possibly his statement

is saying, no white reporters allowed, was racist. But if you look at the reason why he said it, then I think it's the monster has been created by the general media in that their focus on the black community is normally negative. So as a result, it's human nature to protect yourself. And as a result, they have said, white, no white media. And I think that's only, I don't think it's something that's negative. I think if you look at why the action was taken, it's the reason for it, and it's the valid reason, and it's a self-defense reason. We're recording this program in February, which is Black History Month. It's there and over emphasis to focus on blacks in February and Houston, or do you see the problem more or less being insensitive to the black conditions the other 11 months out of the year? I think it's a total psych of America to black people to say, hey, we set aside one month for you, so here.

I think the black history should be celebrated throughout the year. I think that the contributions that we have made in the past and are currently making should be focused on both in the black media and in general media. And I think that it is, to me, disrespectful to try to concentrate on just one month. I think that it's good that we do accomplish it in that we do get a large number of people both from the black community and the general community to realize what those accomplishments are because I'm sure they're informed each time, but I think that it should be carried out throughout the year. I don't think it should be just limited to February. A lot of citizens have a misconception of what a black newspaper is about. You all do include general information about the city of Houston. Yes, we do, but I think we take it from a different perspective. I think when you look at something like community development funds in Houston and you see that millions of dollars are going back to the federal government because the money wasn't

used. Then instead of us just taking that straight new angle, we would take more of a perspective of what impact is this going to have on the black community and where could this have been used. And as a result, then, I think that what we have to try to do is, and our challenge is to make sure that the information that our community gets has more depth and more perspective on how it's going to impact them. Before you run off time, Sonny, someone listening to this program, and is there any way that they can possibly submit manuscripts to you on stories in other parts of the country or other parts of Texas? Yes, gladly, we accept any manuscripts and any articles, particularly those on things that blacks are doing that are positive. The theme of the paper that we have is to deal more with progress and to act as a catalyst in the community, that we not only focus on problems, we focus on progress, and we not only focus on issues, but we deal with solutions.

And for those people who have anything that's along that line, they can mail it to us, and I can give you the address post office box 8-0-0-5, and that's Houston, Texas 7-7-2-8-8. Well, Sonny has been a pleasure talking to you, and you are a maverick and blazing new trails, and I wish you continued success in your endeavors. I appreciate the opportunity to share some of the things that we're doing with your audience. Sonny Messiah Jows, publisher and editor of the Houston Defender newspaper in Houston, Texas. On a recent visit to San Diego, California, superstar Woopy Goldberg presented her one-woman show entitled Living on the Edge of Chaos. The benefit performance was for the San Diego Repertory Theatre. Miss Goldberg returned to San Diego, where in 1975 her acting potential was recognized by Repertory co-founder Sam Woodhouse and Douglas Jacobs. Miss Goldberg has been performing since the age of eight in her hometown of New York and later in the Bay Area.

Woopy Goldberg first gained national recognition in 1983 and Woopy Goldberg, an evening of original material written and created by Miss Goldberg. That performance was later taped as a home box office special. In just three short years, Miss Goldberg has gone from welfare mother with a social worker to a film star with a press agent. At a news conference before performance, I questioned her regarding her new life, working in film, her latest film effort, and her involvement with comic relief. Am I satisfied? I've done, I think, we have done more than the government has done. So yeah, I mean, it hasn't wiped it off the face of the Earth, but, you know, we're doing as much as we can. So. What does it feel like being a sad movie? How do you aim at working off it? No, I don't get anywhere very often. I get in my bus often. It's very peculiar to be here.

It's very different. I've only been here about a couple of hours, so I'll probably add some gas that I got from this gyro, I'd just say, and that's about it. Oh, this and that. It's a character study about two people, Tim Belushi and I. And Tim is a semi-retarded man. And I'm a woman with a brain tumor, and I'm taking him to, or that. It's a nice little character study. He's a director. Andrej Kunchelowski. Spell that. Other than making more money that he had to pass, his life changed as much for you. Well, yeah, a whole bunch of people get together and ask me questions. That never happened before. I have to shop faster. Yeah, it's given me the opportunity to meet a whole lot of people that I don't think

I ever would have gotten to sit down with, like, Bert Lancaster. You know, sitting down talking to Bert Lancaster, like it's Bert and Woopy, you know, instead of, like, Bert Lancaster, getting to do things like comic relief for going to Washington, Christmas Eve to feed folks who live in on the streets, you know. It's allowed me to kind of air some views about things and maybe make a little bit of a change, you know, somewhere and maybe get a little piece of history. My goal, of course, you know, is to, is to, before I die, shoot for a Nobel Prize. That's, that's like my big goal. That's what I'm interested in though. Because then I think that I will have made a mark. What did you look for in the role of the Supreme Court?

Something good, fun, fun, excitement, something that's different, who they would have given it to if they hadn't gotten me, you know, a lot of that's important, taking burglar, which is, you know, piece of fluff. People went to see it, I guess, like it was Dostoyevsky, you know, and they were pissed because it wasn't, you know, but that's a part Bruce Willis was going to do, you know, I like stuff like that. I just want to be able to work. My, my other goal is to keep working. Did you enjoy that experience on the one? Yeah. It was different. It was probably pretty different for them too. It's called winging it, you know, all we got a half a script, we'll see what happens with the rest of it. Okay. Two weeks later, we were down and it was on the air and kept new mansion, I mean this. Do you have more input and particular projects that other people prefer? Nope.

Or do you feed off of it to stay there? I tell you, I tell you what happens, I've learned a lesson about fine print. You have script approval, right? You think you got something? Yeah, I got script approval. You can't change this. And so, well, no, no, you don't understand. You had to prove the script before you signed the contract. Yes, we can change this. See, there's all kinds of fine tuning you have to do to contracts. Script approval throughout the duration of the film is what it has to say, you know. So you learn as you go around, you know, I understand why Betty Davis is cracking. It's fine to go out if you have something to say. I haven't had anything to say for three years that I thought was of any importance. However, that just so happens, I just postponed it to her to take this movie on. So I will probably be on the road, but, you know, so if I was to stand up, I could probably be on a road of five, six times a year. But my pieces are real specific, you know, and they only flow when the, when the spirit moves them.

And I've not been moved for a couple of years. Comedian activist, Wuppie Goldberg, I would like to acknowledge Liz Linderman for her assistance in the production of the Wuppie Goldberg segment. If you have a comment or would like to obtain a cassette copy of this program, write us. The address is in Black America, Longhorn, Radio Network, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 7-8-7-12. For in Black America's technical producer, Cliff Hargrove, I'm John L. Hansen, Jr. Please join us again next week. You've been listening to In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society. In Black America is produced and distributed by the Center for Telecommunication Services at UT Austin, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or this station. This is the Longhorn Radio Network.