200 Years; The History of the Black Press in America

from communication center the university of texas at austin this is two hundred years in the year nineteen seventy six the american republic celebrates its two hundredth anniversary as a part of the us bicentennial program at the university of texas at austin two hundred years explores the past present and future dynamics of history's longest living democratic society this is rick's we are for two hundred years this week we will be talking about the history of the black press and america with us are gene burd associate professor of journalism at the university of texas at austin and gregory williams registered in radio television film at ut austin less began by amending some of the features which make the black person this country unique greg would you like to start yeah i think when we are it is basically is an excellent question at the un be a situation was pretty much defined by the existence of the slave system in the so called marcos initiated

of the responses from the projects who attempted to bring some attention to the white masses about the conditions that mgm or the black press is local it's tied to race and community with plenty of material because the black get to institutions are often ignored by the daily wire press which is not covering all its own large community a census is our series of programs devoted to the bicentennial let's trace the evolution of the press in this country how long have we had a black prayer so it what was initial paper worded it began and has it evolved but what the conflict by christianity twenty seven with the response analysts one and the cornish and that they will build cars warm was a minister and as cornish and one the first black college graduates and the ultimate this planet that was a love

affected and the views of blacks will treat enslave morning express and then when the your paper alan black men tended to one of his central promise in the paper had this news article here they respond by saying that the sun this sun and paper signs on the white people if in fact you want to use its prestigious touch on person that's exactly what they did was a member of the first class was freed and co and gina about the experience of other ethnic groups is there any similarity between the black press evolutionary principle in groups whether some similarity that other groups have been more absorbed in the culture however with the germans in the walk in polish magician chicago new york in japanese in los angeles they're language changed and in many cases there press one of business but poor blacks and someone at her only speak the same language me in isolation from the diamond culture times has helped preserve the

press what are the most important period's i'm only evolution of the black press or when has increased its inoffensive going down market i would say there probably one of the two most important his abacus off eighteen twenty seven to calculate and sixty three wright was a war and from the beginning of what would tune up until i guess about the late fifties and early sixties in terms of the content in the nature of the paper and the impact it had of liking unusual there was the chicago defender which is you call was found in nineteen five mission in congo nineteen thirty six and i think perhaps this period in the nineteen sixties during the civil rights great impact on the price how large was the black press an earlier period you mentioned how many papers did we have around the country what types of blood groups didn't reach i guess at any one time the most of the most oppressive that we're building up without that program for

rio olympic committee includes an intercity of gasoline flowing black guy's temperament and the audience is very i guess from one area that that are located in the northern areas they basically dealt with eon free blacks and they were built around abolitionist movement an extension of the reader and tara sands and that summer southern papers don't arm or with the i guess the on that racial makeup of places like new orleans and defended himself with it wouldn't have been a few collisions was the blood pressure most also published free my mother's letters and was close but freeman in an eerie is basically where there was the the enrichment up with the motto one option because most of the to read that anderson's were still slaves over that had to be passed on through to the end another one of money instantly live in the southern area and seven there is relatively small audience i guess basically because most people to deal with the condition of the slave and so you're a sense like

this reaching up to me no more than i guess one thousand people and one point have been specific here you know today without them i can mention that the atlanta daily world editor of the conservative publication in there as support in them people from the political right like ronald reagan was not necessarily a respected and sat there is a fellow in chicago there are some conservative black publications ministers in as indians and yes in my sound that there are certain aspects of their many publications which have a conservative element i think this relates doesn't not really the black press having to hand private non latino white capital and i think this relates to have a black press has had to develop in this country right now historically the lifespan of most peoples of this one eleven to two years as was all the fact that that was a lie lack of capital in the military interest to

certain development would weaken the vessel that the woman who has developed well i've been in contemporary black presley the same thing happens when you have too long white capital than it views must necessarily be tailored to meet the demands of the tempo or what cunningham fronts as the black press had thinking of both blacks in the white communities right from the beginning it has historically had served as a way of exposing the cause of liberation and abolition work at its beginning and it was a way of i guess proving analysis working with a black you would have intimate and now andrea control over language and caution to build express themselves adequately and to encourage people to meet the needs of the slave population swelled the population with any unique characteristics of the black press that made it different from a white press i guess the difference was in time i think i created it easy to revolutionary way protest and revolution a period i would meet with

editorials in the comments a nation of the papers don't specifically with a political situation that was ahead and now they could have been considered more you know political exposition and then newspapers i had the beginning of the black president pacific do the same thing to the political situations in conditions that exist of black people which meant the nature of the material was more subjective than a subjective than was not we consider the press today one of the goals of the prose changed during this period looks present in the period of the fifties and sixties when their respective nightmares and look to see what happened and i press as a result of what the pride pressed doing in nineteen sixty eight at which time for example on blacks were coming into an order and big cities in the central city has said that for a while though so why daily press looked around and found that a lot of the main streets are changing the settlers are changing that they were being surrounded by e m low income non white population and i think it's helping interest in the

civil rights movement and the white press and an unlimited knowing what you think has happened in terms of the black press effect on a black person's openness i would say entirely it probably uses his decline in effect like prices decline and i guess as a result more of what we call the process of integration on the basis of that usurping vitale attended new supporters and being able to cover larger areas and in more detail the voice and enjoyed the most important which is also men of capital investment in time employees in damages so comparatively says that the workers has taken was unintelligible they would seem now the main a lot of things through the us so called white babies are not covering can make him an advisable anthony black press because the size of a community for example our fantasies become so large that it's

difficult for the los angeles times even at that ranch to be covered on the same inning stretch to baltimore chicago and some other cities and i was i guess that perhaps in the future there may be a great chance here for the black press not going to be concerned about the proms and minorities in general sense it is i guess to the problem of a much of that is that the press has created a market for self i think existing community does not necessarily mean that there's a market there and to the extent of the black press has not satisfied the the basic needs in terms of information services of the community and become popular enough two were to be willing to have a massive impact would like to see it have and that may have also been his own wits tend to imitate was the white prison terms of content for new orleans brands of the question which is partially intentional about those of black pressed reflect but kocher allowed the state

to a large extent no i think it reflects segments and fragments of black culture in terms of the comprehensive aspect of the cost in terms of the unease in and so as the community hopes and dreams of people i don't think it really gets into those issues even on an object in robberies of reporting news as it relates to anything in the war from the same ethnic stamp on a new and in an article soul into the culture itself and it's a time between whether it should be an advocate for completed for the liberation and whether it should be a kind of a supplement or an appendage of the so called white community i think i even been very tight the various titles and evolved you know over the years the name to the press freedom journal scuttle defender of the korea know if like the design and intent of the initial like newspapers and i think probably one of the challenges that they've presented by prison they survive without an engine how many but prices do we have for example in the

communities in the country today are really adequately covered by live bullet bras get us a little audio of that number in the south and the north for example in los angeles like your freezer case times exact numbers are really really can't say the questions about four to five hundred black korean in the country and they're probably you'd probably find a more soul in amman and made a very public areas like around the urban centers with a massive black population in terms of smaller you know rule is to qualify mr blood pressure find new sheik it's become our dues but if an organization in terms of it being a broad base of the aisle that says that you know so they are large urban centers in an often would have more press than the south koreans have the very nature of its population waning audience and was at least one for example in the daily defender has for a long time talk about being recognized as an important daily newspaper for the central city

and in the view of many people certainly not black sand have been considered just another daily newspaper arab outside the white community and yet when we look in population of chicago illinois how many donnelly visited by society leah do you know how many copies are circulating in that area and allow an estimated fifty seven amnesty to get me an estimate on the same population rating of a dominant white paper ballot republican important for her and of the bikes really quite as well as the biker on the end most infamous middle of this is a very difficult one both papers that picked up on the newspapers for the national international news and for the local information and governments of the press and this is one the frustration black press the white

readership and the black leadership this has very close sometimes and then increased television track so much of the attention of minorities especially blacks and as we will not only a non italian sent them into a television station it's pretty expensive especially black visitors work station in the country which is why it's that you are the channel sixty two unusual and i think it's again a slice and sometimes simon i just didn't have the executive producer the history of palestine it will force behind it like commercially owned television station in the country mayor of radio though you do have a much larger number ninety they're probably sound and fifty black widow stations nationwide it is radio as much as as much as any other medium has more of an impact on on the black community and even tv for like you because everybody listens to the radio and because it projects a

certain amount of caution specific needs that people can easily really tuned into along an amended i love the black youth identify with much in the heavy material on black radio stations and the popularity of transistor hand take becks than one hundred am black jockeys in the music itself ended with a look at what happened to me and the wider issue of the daily newspapers weeklies and i'm sure that the same kind of love preservation cement basin the press as they are the premier complete the new economy i think i'll probably one most important aspects of like where you as it relates to two communities in terms of what a social event the details of their songs of the year will come directly from the deputy whip and one more party people in almost the most

contemporary tend to come out i've got to inflict of of the contemporary situation state fairs exist community which is i guess korea motif of an autistic maintain the peace of the pulse of the community and i think the idea that well newspapers up into the black press probably these seem to get more into into content reform and probably needs to understand that to determine exactly what is woven into the community every way to the black press and then begin to serve that function based on the community well one of the things we've seen is that when you have stressed is that most of these are local to have any but publications international circulation unemployment they manage eighth and it's probably we're probing the most massive has two pieces probably it probably is more consistent in terms of the debate and to that exposes and then projects than any of the black media as probably been widely accepted any of the press like publication history with the press as a dreaded oh bother

people who are not followers of my mom and so it went on a mutant ants and what's been so hard there's a reason his strong advocacy of approach in terms of you know i'm black culture in the country it's like it's like an alternative press is not its time basis and does have a base unlike cattle least fully cover what we know and don't the overall purpose and not it's it's it's a type of public it did you can pick up in and see the specific news as as an idea that reflected an american league as anyone noticing controversial into letting people more willing to sit through congress and to dig into the the issue that a culturally specific and more relevant to missions to the community to the national international scene we discuss some of the important publications so who are the leaders in the grass on the mission i guess the only loser probably based on

one second sticker chain of newspapers that that includes another defendant koreans in the country probably everyone the information that it gathers and gatekeepers in the country also alicia johnson with the ebony jet and black world and in a number of newspaper publications also i was in terms of the media at that johnson a second spectrum have any progress or all of video magazine butter circulated controlled by one man and johnson there's this every magazine and it was controlled by just the massive cities of those missing most of the other you know i guess significant magazines come in wind tunnels general mathematicians mexico tend to be minimal but the academic you know you're in the area are beginning to gain more popular among people in a lot more to the grassroots effort so they tend to expel the temples and there's the tuesday a

black settlement with his instrument in any intimate online database how widely uses well it said usually in the larger metropolitan areas one of the complaints has been by white people lived it should be sent into the black community who just didn't like near the end of it did mostly mostly contains adds that the payment black's basically in southern areas where the black this wasn't the dominant within a couple of days to get inside so i in response to demands of black people for some type of information and flexed beneath the white person's sudden noises began a live in a news and twenty massive weapons when a big problem seems to be in the lack of adequate capital to alicia press which of course is a problem regardless of whether you like hoyer everything else is anything being done now have these viruses and christmas youtube

yet there is a meeting of the national black press association an organization for monitor how well with that is basically a meeting place for all the heads of it is a different black newspapers and what i understand now that for us now is to is to get more into advertising because it is becoming more folk at least deal with a black advertises in in terms of advertising consultant and senate so they're playing awfully evilness i guess of seeing black people on tv as well as the newspapers that also i think china make a shift in terms of the basic philosophy of what the right question though about in order to make it more desirable to the community because the levy a couple bases their businesses if they can make it then use a new level by likenesses i think as they have gotten violent prisons that mcdonald's is seventy nine get to know the nineteen sixty eight authorized that mayor of quiet in the black leaders especially in martin luther king hoped that black issues and problems

could find their way into the white press and many of the demonstrations and marches some of them sooner tap events did help to register and why craft that one wonders and i in retrospect in historical sense now whether to set traps has strengthened the world of the moment and in the country there some people as we know we chanted i think i can't wait to have credibility on on exposure alone actually impact on you know electric prods and fire hoses and dogs and children i definitely was there that may have an effect but it's it's almost like watching the vietnam conflict on the news and here in the future how they killed at the summit turned singing a low tolerance for the end so there's no activities no act of commitment to the solution of the problem on a part of the press and hearing the poem you know consistently really mean or just a

debut appearance same blacks on television now maureen neitz and white press for example on television ads or very markedly on in professional sports where you see many many black players and yet you know the audiences and use the predominant line i think of it as if i'm out all for assault another feeling the traditional stereotype you know that in fact earwax in that region in attendance and now if that is in fact the case so be they are there still is not a segment facet of american culture that becomes increasingly more pointedly staff americans themselves and not to have a clear understanding among the wider culture that american community and it is the the world due in india as the effects of the american culture as they relate to the european culture and as an effective american culture and that summit will be on to watch tv the west in situation comedies awash in sport because we always we see the surface that and we see the surface either newsweek about the gang then can we give up the

homicide rate in detroit and the rising crime and everything on it as a black community but there's no in depth look an analysis of the situation how it has evolved whether that you know wise existing words continue to be this way and i think that it's misleading to continue produce facts that don't amount to any ongoing troops think that the president you lie and with the analysis of the black press as it currently exists we bring to a conclusion this week's program dealing with the history of the black press and america our panelists have included gene burd associate professor of journalism university of texas at austin and gregory williams graduate student and radio television film at ut austin this as rex we're for two hundred years two hundred years as part of the united states bicentennial program at the university of texas austin is a continuing series of weekly conversations about the past present and future dynamics of history's longest living democratic society two hundred years is produced by katie

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