PowerPoint; Baseball Legend Buck O'Neil, Black Press

Production and broadcast of PowerPoint is made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the National Legacy Foundation, a non -profit organization committed to enhancing, preserving, and restoring the legacy and history of life in America. This is PowerPoint, an information -age clearinghouse for news, issues, and ideas that impact the African -American community, the nation, and the world. Good evening and welcome to PowerPoint, live from the studios of Peach State Public Radio in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm Carmen Burns, and from our PowerPoint family to yours, Happy New Year. Tonight's guest is part of Turner Broadcasting's annual Trumpet Awards, honoring select African -American achievements. He was born John Jordan O 'Neill, but to baseball historians and fans, he's simply known as Buck. Buck O 'Neill, one of the greatest baseball players of the Negro League from the late 1930s with the Miami Giants to a 17 -year

career with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League. Buck O 'Neill is a living legend and is tonight's guest. You can join the discussion by calling the PowerPoint line at 1 -888 -667 -3224. That's 1 -888 -667 -3224. Up next on PowerPoint and evening with Buck O 'Neill. But first, these headlines from PowerPoint news. With news and information to empower the community, this is PowerPoint. Good evening, I'm Bruce Dorton. Authorities and students at several historically black colleges and universities are on alert tonight. After their schools receive letters with racial slurs and pictures of a swatch sticker. Each letter ended with the words, the white race will be preserved forever. Among the schools receiving the letters, Fisk University, Mahari Medical

College, North Carolina Central University, Oakwood College and Lincoln University. Part of the south rows again behind the Confederate flag on Saturday, amid muskets salutes from reenactors in Civil War costumes, an army of 6 ,000 gathered under a sea of Confederate flags in Columbia, South Carolina. They're defending the banner that's flown from the State House dome for 38 years. There were no reports of incidents of violence during the rally or along a parade route that won from a cemetery holding Confederate debt. The rallies included 92 -year -old Alberta Martin, known as the last Confederate widow. Several miles away, leaders of the state NAACP decided not to widen economic sanctions against South Carolina beyond a tourism boycott that started a month ago. The Civil Rights Group hopes to force the flag from the State House. The mayor of Macon, Georgia, says the city should stand by Atlanta Braves

pitcher John Rocker, even if they don't agree with what he says about minorities and immigrants. Jack Ellis told ESPN this week that Rocker owes his home city an apology for his comments in sports illustrated last month. The pitcher bashed New York immigrants gays and minorities in the magazine. Ellis was sworn in last month as Macon's first black mayor. He says Rocker needs the city's support now more than ever. Rocker has apologized for his remarks. He says he is not a racist and that his remarks do not reflect his true feelings. Rocker is currently undergoing psychological counseling as ordered by Major League Baseball. Overseas, British customs agents say they've seized components of scud missiles capable of carrying chemical or biological warheads. A customs official says the components have been smuggled into Britain and were seized at London's Gatwick Airport before they could be shipped to Libya. The official says an investigation is being conducted and that no further details are being released. According to London's Sunday

Times, 32 crates of missile parts were discovered in November during a joint investigation by customs and intelligence officers. The newspaper says paperwork found with the components indicate the ship and had originated in Taiwan. The export of missile technology to Libya is illegal with a European Union arms embargo and an international treaty in place. Rap mogul Sean Puffy Combs is now facing two massive lawsuits. A latest suit was brought Friday by a man who was shot in a New York City nightclub. He's seeking $50 million. Robert Thompson says he was shot in the shoulder by Combs's protege Jamal Barrow during a dispute in Club New York December 27th. Two other people were wounded in the shooting and one is suing Combs and Barrow for $100 million. Barrow faces weapons at attempted murder charges. Combs says he wasn't involved in the shooting. He's charged with illegal possession of a gun. Police say it was found in his car minutes after he and actress singer Jennifer Lopez had left the club.

In one final item of interest this evening, scientists will meet this week on Alabama's Gulf Coast to talk about a growing new problem, jellyfish. 50 researchers and experts from 12 countries will meet for the first time to discuss a worrisome global surge in the creatures. Conference organizer and often island sea lab researcher Monte Graham says the scientists will compare notes on what's causing the jellyfish explosion. The increase poses a threat to the multi -billion dollar tourism industry along the Gulf Coast, the organism's trail of tentacles that can inflict painful and even dangerous things on swimmers. And that is the news on PowerPoint this evening. I'm Bruce and welcome back to PowerPoint, broadcasting live from the studios

of Peach State Public Radio in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm Carmen Burns. And a little while we hope to be joined by Negro Baseball Leager, Buck O 'Neill, but right now he is not here, so we're going to continue in a baseball frame of mind and talk about what seems to be on the mind of a lot of people from Atlanta to the West Coast and all points in between. Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker. Last week the Atlanta Braves and Major League Baseball announced that Braves reliever John Rocker would undergo a psychologist, a psychological evaluation. This in the wake of his incendiary inflammatory and some say insane comments and sports illustrated. What do you think? Does this go far enough? Should he be punished for running off at the mouth? Call the PowerPoint hotline at 1 -888 -667 -322 -4 that's 1 -888 -667 -322 -4. Now joining us in the studio right now is our own sports expert, sports rider and PowerPoint associate producer Rose Marie Holmes. How are you? Rose Marie.

Pretty good. How are you? Everything going all right? Pretty good. Love and Baseball, you know it's January 2000. Oh I know. So what do you think about this rocker business? Well you know the first thing is that I'm not quite understanding why Major League Baseball ordered this analysis. First ball what John Rock? He has a right to say what he wants to say no matter how insane and crazy it is. Has this worked in the past? You can use examples with Mike Tyson. Did he change anything? No. For me personally, I just wish the Braves would make a decision. John Rocker's his comments are sports illustrated. A lot of people have said well you know it's just how he felt and you know it doesn't really mean anything. Let's just go on with the season but I think people don't understand is that comments like that affect the ball club and for African Americans within on that team Brian Jordan, Brian Hunter, Izzy Giann, other minorities that's what the effect really is going to be. Certainly it is. Now the problem

is though like you said is what what his teammates are going to how they're going to react but some of them have said they're just going to take a weight and see attitude about the whole thing. Well and I think that's kind of what the Braves are doing too. They're kind of buying a little time. I think Major League Baseball has kind of helped that. They've said okay we're going to step in and we're going to order this and it gives the Braves a little bit of time to see what Major League Baseball is going to do. Now of course my question again is what are they going to do? Are they going to hold up ink block to test for John Rocker? What are these tests going to prove? Being a racist is not a mental disease. Yeah most mental experts agree with that. You know so what was it going to prove? It basically I think for the Braves this gives an opportunity to kind of see what Major League Baseball is going to do then they'll make their decision. John Rocker is a great closer and he is need on that ball club then again you have to have some sense of stability with that team and after comments like that it will be tough for him when he walks when he reports to spring training if he's in a Braves uniform. There will be no high fives. Hey John how was your winner? You know you're not going to

have that. But the Mayor of Macon who is also an African -American has come out in support. So to speak of him that we really need to rally behind him so to speak he didn't that's not his those aren't his opinions. You know let's get past all of this. Well you can't I don't think that John Rocker's the comments that John Rocker made I person don't believe it's something you can kick him out of baseball for. You know you can't kick him out of a league because he spoke his mind again he obviously I don't agree with what he said but he has the right to speak his mind now what you do is you make a decision you know that having John Rocker if you believe having John Rocker on the team is going to cause problem. Hey is it going to affect ticket sales then you make your decision but you can't kick him out of baseball can you suspend them probably because they have in those in their contracts about image and things like that and why you represent the Braves uniform you know you you have to uphold the standards you choose the work for institutional organization you choose to accept you know what is their image John Rocker crossed that deathily so the Braves again have to make that decision what's more important having a closer having people understand or having teammates and what's going to happen when he goes to New

York that's true in a Braves uniform. He will face the meds and the Yankees. Oh come on he's not going to be on the number seven so that's true I think I read in one article in sports illustrator on the internet that one of the fans that next time I'll bring D batteries. Well and and somebody might bring a car battery up in New York you never know. You definitely don't know now we're joined right now by Buck O 'Neill a legend in baseball and Rose is blushing here because she's a big fan of yours what do you think about all of this. Well it one thing that the young man was a fool to say it to to to a said what he said and he's not the only one I think would be feeling that way a lot of guy feel that way but they got sense enough not to say anything about it on the you know just to their friends not to the public to the media and but he made a mistake he made quite a mistake and baseball batting the time now post this is why they say we'd go into a cycle or something like that but that's just by time tell it can decide

what they want to do with it and see and point is that Latterball Club John Schoell holds a very good friend of mine and I wanted to think about John Schoell holds he's one of the few men I've known in my life that's not prejudice and you've seen quite a few quite a bit of that over the years in baseball of course I came up to that yeah so do you think that this is going to accomplish anything you said this just biting baseball just biting their time to do whatever they're going to do then that's going to be some tight punishment see but you can't put a guy to baseball for seeing what he thought seeing his mind and so he's going to he'll be playing but as you say when he goes to New York and but what are you going to do going to fill the ballpark that's true even if you come you know to hate that's Jack Robinson a lot of people feel the ballpark and sense in that in in St. Louis and things like that just because they were haters and they wanted to be that but they feel the ballpark that's true and I keep hearing that his card is like very very hard to find baseball cards with John Rocker's name

on are almost impossible to find it you see what happens yeah that's true well we're so delighted to have you in the studio to see you play and very hard I knew you were coming now yeah well and I just left Bella and the normal was up speaking and I had to walk out now I hated to do that but I I had to come here now you're in town for the trumpet awards that's right you're honored to be here and getting getting a receiving recognition for all of your accomplishments well yeah I like it yeah so what do you think about baseball these days baseball is still great baseball is still a great great test but the difference in baseball the day and baseball in my day the only difference is that supply and demand in my day the supply was greater than the demand right now the demand is greater than the supply and the money is there a whole lot of money is there

now and and the baseball players are any athlete people been acting the same way all it's all ever since see but right now what you like you the media and New York City made Babe Ruth they talked about Babe Ruth's home runs they didn't talk about Babe Ruth's other life see but right now if that lead if he doesn't go that he's human just like anybody else and he's supposed to do the things anyone else does but he's before the public and you people don't jump right on it the media going to stop yeah that's your job but made the superstars they're turned on to that's true in a New York minute so I'm trying to take let's take a phone call real quick Michael and Philadelphia listening to WHYY good evening Michael Michael are you there hello Michael Michael went over I think Michael went to a yeah took a bathroom break there let's try Cecilia and Philadelphia hi Cecilia hi I must correct I'm in writing

Pennsylvania that's close to Philadelphia okay close enough you got us in the right state anyway okay I have to agree very much with the first two people you were talking to I am very much worried about our constitution being fringe on and freedom of speech I don't think an employer has the right to withhold your constitutional right of freedom of speech and I'm very worried about the fact that this sounds a lot like the way they acted in Russia if you did not voice the state's philosophy on things it's very unfortunate that this man has only seen say the CDer side of New York I'm sure there's a lot of fine people in New York and unfortunately he probably wasn't exposed to the the better element but I would ask people to contact his bosses and explain to them that he does have a right to his opinion oh I think they agree with that

it's just the way that he voiced it but um and they have they feel like there's something that has to be done or at least in name only if nothing else well you can't legislate good taste or I would go out and do that with a lot of people that's true Cecilia thanks so much for your comment I enjoy your show so much we appreciate and we'll get your city right next time oh that's fine okay take care bye bye bye oh let's talk about you mr. O 'Neill and your life in baseball when in one thing about it my grandfather was mr. O 'Neill my father was pet my name's book so I don't want to hear mr. O 'Neill any more tonight here yes sir but okay but how did you get that nickname well a man I plead for for a man in in uh Florida my name is Florida his name was Buck O 'Neill so they put out I'm on this ball club and they put out the placards and they didn't know my first name but they knew Buck O 'Neill's first name my name last name was O 'Neill so they just put Buck on the placards so Buck stuck wow yeah definitely you have a question for him Rose as you're here and you're just definitely enamored well my first question I have my nigger league t -shirt over in the

engineering room so I want to make sure you sign that I told my god I was going to wear but it didn't go with the black slacks okay I'm trying to keep me now that's right you know to put you on the line because you're on the air right now all right but um my question you know you grew up in as a caribell Florida yes I was born in caribell for honor but I grew up more or less in Sarri Soda for honor what was it like what was a young Buck O 'Neill doing a six six seven year old were you playing baseball did you know that's what you wanted to do got my daddy three baseball you know and I would go around with the team my daddy was a sawmiller and we would go we would play the sawmill teams on the weekend and I would go around it's a bet boy and always has good hands I could catch the bowl so the men would throw me the bowl and I'd catch it I was a ham you know and I really enjoyed that and that that hooked me on baseball were you always a first baseman no I played some other positions but professionally a first baseman now let's talk about satchel page calling you Nancy yeah what's up with that well it worked

all right then I want the people to read my book but I'll tell them about me please do well actually say satchel satchel was so different than a lot of people thought satchel on see satchel the satchel that I knew in love let me tell you about that man we played right here in Atlanta George that's right see the white team he and the southern league was Atlanta crackers the black team was Atlanta black crackers so we played Atlanta black crackers that Sunday constantly on par play them a double here the next day we're going to charge some South Carolina we get to charge them the next day and the room weren't ready we were early and satchel said come go with me Nancy I said okay I had an idea where he was going we go down to the docks in Charleston he had a thing they were not both motorboat put us in the boat and took us to drum island this way they used to land the slaves we stayed over there about 30 minutes in them man I got some plays as I want to take you he took us back

to the docks took us to a warehouse he said this it's where they used to auction off the slaves satchel and I stood there not saying a word each other for 30 minutes and he finally said you know what Nancy it feels like I've been here before I said me too what he was alluding to the fact that his grandfather or my grandmother could have been auction off right we were standing this is a satchel that I knew and loved but he was devilish too now that's sucker we played in a little town in South Dakota and it's small town and satchel pitched this to in us he's sitting on the bench and Indian we're right in there in the Indian reservation or Indian maiden came in with five children she was probably babysitting and she's probably 18 years old sat right behind our bench and why did she do that because satchel would talk to her dead tree satchel started talking with nasson so when the bargain was over satchel and nasson hitting it off pretty good and satchel and nasson why don't you and the kids come and have dinner

with us nasson said okay all right so we had a lot of fun with the kids but satchel still talking to nasson satchel and nasson still hitting it now and satchel said uh nasson we were being this is a money say over the weekend we're going to be in Chicago how would you like to come to Chicago as my guess nasson satchel out like that I got some relatives in Chicago hadn't seen since I was a little girl satchel gave away it took together to Chicago and we in Chicago that Saturday we said that the evidence was sitting in the dining room at Evans Hotel that will be stayed and big day one of the day we looked right out on the street satchel and i sitting there sippin on a little tee and a cab drives up and our step nassons pretty as a picture i said satchel there's nasson satchel go get the bell money he goes out getting nassons out and take it upstairs to satchel's room and they're coming back down soon we got nassons going away I go back to my table sippin on the tee i went there fifteen minutes another cab drives up and our steps la homa was

satchel's beyond save and listen i rush out and i greet la homa i say la homa satchel's satchel went over some reporters but he would be back presently okay i said come on in i call the waitress take care of her give her whatever she wants then i went to the bell and i say hey you go upstairs and you tell satchel that la homa's here and i was sleeping next door the satchel the next room was vacant i said you put nasson in that vacant room and uh and when you get everything straight come back and give me a signal he said okay he was going by 30 minutes and then he came back gave me a signal everything was okay that's it we'd stay on the second floor of the Evans Hotel satchel goes down the five skate walk all the way around the building which is a block he comes all la homa what a pleasant surprise i was glad to see you well anyway we had a good time that evening that joe louis came by we had some fun with joe louis Jesse Orange came by oh we had a good time that evening nice eleven o 'clock i said we got a double head of the mar so i guess we better go to bed okay la homa

satchel and me we go upstairs now get in bed but i can't sleep because i know satchel got to see nasset and give nasset some money to go back home you know and i couldn't sleep about an hour satchel's door opens i say it's going down right now satchel tipped over the nasset door and nasset no one answer and when you say that satchel's door opens satchel's that nasset door this got to be la homa so i rush out in the hole i say satchel all you looking for me he said yes nasset what time it came tomorrow so i've been nasset over since satchel that's the story of nasset there's so many great stories in in your book i was right on time and we encourage you to call in and talk to bucko neal our number is one eight eight six six seven three two two four that's one eight eight six six seven three two two four can we go to bernard and baltimore who's been holding a little while listening to w

e a hi bernard how are you good evening mr. neal hey bernard how are you it's such a joy to speak with you sir it's good to speak with you i don't know if you remember but i guess during the early part of the 90s the off star game was held in baltimore how was that do you remember the outfenders the um the anchor at channel 13 i sure did well he did the program that he did i still have a copy of it called not in our league uh -huh and i'm really what what was impressed and and and surprised and pleased at the uh knowledge that he was able to pass on to us uh -huh i mean it seems though to me that they were making people not only that were talented at that time but also they were just all around class yes of course they were i have to ask you something both sir well one of the things i learned in that uh film was that uh frequently uh people like satchel page were pitched two and three games in one day well and wait a minute now and when you talk about satchel a just you can tell the truth you don't have to

fictionalize satchel satchel was great you don't fictionalize satchel page now satchel might have pitched two two two part of two games of a day because satchel was was pitching as a relief role and satchel it was the headliner so we pitched him quite a bit oh okay i understand now because i was just one that seems though to me nowadays pitches pitch three and four innings and it's almost like they've done a whole day's work well anyway one thing you got say you got ten pitches on the staff now you've got ten pitches on the staff and you they're going to pitch if a guy pitched you pitched me six innings and this guy to start and i'm paying him four million dollars i've got a guy was a uh uh a middle relief i'll put him in in the seventh innings and i'm paying him two million dollars and the next guy is the set up man he's going to pitch one innings that's what you want to do in a minute the set up man

he's going to pitch one innings and and we paying him three million dollars now you've got a stopper who you're paying four million dollars he's going to pitch the last innings so this is baseball this is money and this is a capitalististic society and so money is the thing this is why you use all this but doing my day a guy pitched nine in it yes sir i will ask this a little bit i'm going so how much you compare uh the hitter at Josh Gibson with many of the sluggers that out there today Josh Gibson was a greater hitter than in this slugger out there see uh uh when you say Josh Gibson you say Ruth you said Ted Williams you you saying actually some of the greatest hitters that ever lived like McGuire, Sosa, great home on hitters but they aren't great hitters they are good hitters see but Ruth Josh Gibson, Ted Williams he's got a lifetime average three

fifth year better great hitters yes sir that's the devil baby it's a joy to speak to you Mr. Neil i'm glad but our thanks for your call and we encourage all of you to do the same our number is one eight eight eight six six seven three two two four that's one six six seven three two two four you just mentioned Babe Ruth yeah what was the first time you saw him and you know what i tell you what we're going to take a break in just a moment and we'll talk about Babe Ruth Ted Williams and the impact that they had on you and your life come on in just a moment we'll be back with Buck O 'Neill and we'll talk more about his book i was right on time stay with us you're listening to PowerPoint Internet services for PowerPoint provided by World African Network offering news, sports entertainment and lifestyle reports on the internet for the African American community the web address is w -a -n online dot com that's w -a -n online dot com the world African

network our world our news our way and welcome back to PowerPoint we are honored to have in our

studio tonight Buck O 'Neill one of the greats in baseball and i'm very very happy to be talking to him because i have a son who is just a baseball fanatic and quite good at it i might add so thank you so much for being with us and hey if you'd like to order an audio cassette of this or any other edition of PowerPoint the number is 1 -888 -682 -6500 that's 1 -888 -682 -6500 and right now we want to encourage you to call our PowerPoint hotlines so you can get in in this last half hour of our evening with Buck O 'Neill the PowerPoint hotline number is 1 -888 -667 -3224 that's 1 -888 -667 -3224 lots of numbers back to Babe Ruth talking about the first time that you met him first time i at Babe Ruth see i'm from Florida it's Sarasota Florida and i've seen great baseball all my life the New York Giants John McGraw New York Giants trained in Sarasota up north at Tampa of Millahugga the New York Yankees was spring train there and down south seven miles lower than

north was Karimak the Philadelphia Athletic so i've seen great baseball all my life Yankees coming to town but we did we would stand outside the center field the right field fence and for the guys in batten practice with the homerah hit the ball over the fence and we'd get the balls and take them around when the game was open selling to the tourists you know and but so this day the Yankees in time and you know a pine tree like a Georgia pine it's hard to climb we cut up two before we made a ladder so we could go up the ladder and look over the fence and see the ball game but this day we're out there and somebody hit a ball i never heard that sign before and instead of me running for the ball i ran to the lad i wanted to see who was hitting his ball he was a broad chess fella and hung with skinny legs and the pretty swing that i'd have ever seen that was Babe

Roo that's when i first saw Babe Roo and later years i played against Babe Roo oh yeah oh what was that like i'm standing babe room pigeon against satchel pade we in Chicago first up Babe Roo must have hit that ball 500 feet over the trees and when he got the home fleet satchel was at the home plate congratulate him and they held up the ball game 15 minutes for a kid to go get the ball bring it back so Babe could autograph it for satchel oh great story next time up satchel threw in three pitches he was out really oh yeah oh that was great certainly let's take a phone call Kevin and Massachusetts listening to w -m -b good evening hi miss drew nil it's great honor and pleasure to speak to you all right um i'm actually a bit nervous but well it's it's amazing to uh to talk to someone of your stature and it's been a great pleasure to listen to your stories over the years but i basically had a couple

questions real briefly one would be do you feel that the players of your day would be able to adjust and face you know the pitching that we have today with the 101 mile fastball the fork balls screw balls and then uh secondly how do you feel about the changing game with the juice balls the small strike zones and the uh the drugs that are used for muscle building when one thing about it is the game today that answered your your first question see they print throwing these different pitches which is actually great for baseball but during my day not only that they were throwing the spit ball the emerald ball the curry ball the drop ball the knuckle ball they were throwing all these pitches just had different names to them and uh so actually the guys doing my day could have pitched in any time just like the three pitches now that's

very true all right what was your second question the second question is basically how do you feel about the changing of the game with juice balls smaller strike zones and larger players who uh to use some drugs steroids and whatnot well one thing i don't think uh uh that has if you got power and and you don't see any any the guys you see we're in 150 pounds hitting that ball as far as McGuire hitting it McGuire just strong i don't care what he gets the other guy had a smaller guy he's not going to hit the ball that far well we have a lot of second basement out there hitting 20 home runs here and you got some second basement that can play hey you got some second basement that can play you know going back now wait a minute go back back way back Roger Hahn they wanted the greatest he ever lived he was the second baby so so actually the time the the difference in baseball now in the baseball then doing that era doing my era the greatest athlete in the world played baseball football basketball with more less college sports but to make a living

professionally you played baseball so we had to pick up a liver the greatest athlete played but the greatest athlete in the world now might be talking to basketball man might be throwing the football uh could be serving the tennis ball 100 miles an hour it's so many ways now to make a living in sports that we just don't have to get the greatest athlete like we did at one time okay Kevin thanks so much for your phone call thank you and thanks miss Elliott well what do you think is the hardest to do is it harder to throw a football or harder to hit a baseball like you say the guy throwing that ball 100 miles an hour and you just six to six inches out there uh huh and it's it's just hard to do and not it's just not straight you know what it is move and it's doing a whole lot of things and you got to adjust in that let the time those seconds to hit that ball hitting the baseball one of the toughest things to do in sports okay let's go to Chris and Atlanta listening to WCLK good evening

yeah hi mr. O 'Neil yeah listen it is an absolute pleasure to hear your voice tonight sir all right and we can tell Carmen's enthusiasm for the game i got to tell you i have my nine year old and the extension fuss phones if you hear any hard breathing that's where it's coming from and let it come now listen you you stole our thunder about uh satchel and babe uh this wanted to get your reminisces about uh root foster if you would root foster yeah well in root foster yeah well you know root breath line uh we are the ship all else to see oh it's found that very beautiful and i've always admired brood but if you could just give us some thoughts now what you hear you're any experience that you have through by love to hear Matt what's on met roob foster in the twinness in the early twinness and roob foster see i i lived in Sarasota florida roob foster would bring his team into winner to West Palm Beach florida then and they represented the roob ponsana hotel one of the greatest two -ish hotels in the country and over at the breakers hotel see itela in the end of

nap las apes sees represented that i got you and they played baseball well and before i went there you know i'd seen these great mainly ball players and uh but all of them was white so i didn't have an idea about i could make a living playing baseball with these guys that roob had eight guys on his ball cruff could steal your hundred bases and gonna hit your twenty thirty home runs see i tell her i had the same type now the major league i saw the major league as i saw you could go out get some popcorn or peanuts or something until babe rooth or jimmy fox or some of the big hitters or tie cob would come up but when i went to Palm Beach you couldn't go out for nothing because these guys might do something you've never seen before i'm trying to tell you hey if you're walking you could walk and he's still seeing a third and if you weren't smart he's still wrong this was a quick baseball let's let's let's fall back a moment if we forget we always hear about Ruth hitting the home run against satchel but we never hear about him striking out three times after that here no no well in the well and somebody

if anybody telling you that they told you wrong he did strike out the next time he came to bat he struck out the next time he came to bat but other than that that was the only two times he was at bat because satchel and and babe rooth they were the stars so babe rooth didn't play the nine in ends and satchel didn't play the nine in it look it has been an absolute pleasure talking with you tonight i am so happy that power point has you on and i hope the book does very well and thank you so much sir thank you chris all right bye bye okay let's go to cedric and mungumbry listening to wva s good evening cedric hello how you doing great your question i'm doing fine how you doing this though i'm fine cedric okay i want to ask i got two questions my first question was as they talked about baby rooth was being perhaps the greatest baseball player ever but i wanted to know your opinion of him being as great or will it made

or a hammer area do they compare to a baby rooth or the same standard of what listen listen actually with me the greatest major league baseball player that i've ever seen no no you're fine was will it made that's the greatest major league baseball player that i've ever seen but the greatest baseball player i've ever seen was oscacastan please send a feel for the ball and for the in the naplos abc's and the 20s and the 30s yeah could steal your 100 basis could hit your 50 homeruns are better that was oscacastan but see rooth comparing rooth and made rooth save baseball say save baseball yeah after the blacks are scandal people started getting over baseball called to say people was cheating see but babe came hit nose homeruns that brought baseball brought people back to baseball but and rooth now was a great athlete don't get it wrong rooth was a great athlete but with me rooth

hit the homerun after rooth hit the homerun that was it if rooth hit the single rooth would be the answer somebody moving but if will it hit the single he's still second steel third you know and he could beat you with the glove he could beat you with his legs he could beat you in so many and every way in baseball will him as could beat you okay now i also want to know i've read a lot of headlines about baby rooth about him being a racer which i call you can't recall that he was a racer anything like that he's a what racer listen no way not babe rooth one of the nicest fellows i've ever seen even i was telling you if you heard it when babe rooth hit that ball where i heard that sound and hit the ball over the fence i came round to sell the ball to to to the tourist and babe rooth didn't let me sell the ball he signed the ball from me say here kid i'ma sign this ball for you and i didn't have sense enough to keep the ball we played ball with the ball and wore it out yeah so babe

rooth uh -oh with a fine guy as far as that one of the most charismatic guys that ever played the game certainly sadrick thanks so much for your phone call all right thank you okay good evening now in nineteen thirty three you joined the Tampa black smokers that was your first professional team yeah who was your first at bat like well and actually didn't that know it didn't that that wasn't bad for me because we had i had played against them oh see i'm sorry so i played with the sorry so the tigers and sorry so the tiger i i started playing with them when i was fifteen years old fifteen i was fifteen years old and and they actually what happened is they would we played on our school ground we play on the school ground and after school and then when the men would get off work they would practice on the ground too so they saw us play so this day it was a Thursday and everybody had to be off on Thursday Thursday the first baseman for the team the service or the tigers he had to work so and

Andrew Brown who ran the ball club came by the school and asked Mrs. Booker if i could play first piece form and i played first piece form that Thursday and the guy that i played for he never played again no no not that i was that good but what he did he was an old a fellow so he taught me the things that i knew about for his face wow hmm that's incredible now when did you go into from being an active player into managing you were the first black manager of a manager no no no i never managed in the major league you didn't i started managing the Kansas City Monarchs in 1948 48 now i did go to the major leagues i was the first coach coach black coach in the major league so in that we had a school of coaches that's what they called it and mr. Regan so he had about 12 guys there but only four of those

guys were managers i was the school i was the accident the interior coach and the uh -huh and the beans coach so how was it going into the cubs organization for you oh it was all right he called it so you have and then of course not three i was with them with with the monarchs and what we did is i had signed to any banks in 1950 to a Kansas City Monarch contract and after the at the Kansas City Monarch contract he played with us in 1950 went to service fifty one two two two came back in 53 and 53 that's when we signed him to the Chicago Cubs and after our east west game in Chicago and Tom Beard who owned the ball club he said that night after the ballgame said but brain earning banks out to the ball club ballpark tomorrow they're gonna sign him okay uh win the Smith the great rider he he picked us up and took us to the club ballpark with Matthews with the general manager the clubs at the time and he said buck now the baseball and the

Negro leagues just about over so Tom's going to sell this team when he does i want you to come and work with the cubs as a scout i say that sound pretty good to me he said well and since you gonna come work with a scout your first job here you signed earning to a monarch contract signing to this contract so i signed into that contract and uh -huh that was in 53 Tom solar team in 55 56 i went work with the club wow fantastic let's take another phone call Nelson in Virginia listening to wnsb hi Nelson how you doing great wish a question um yeah i never coming about um rocker the comments he made in new york um i think that's very wrong you know because he forgot that um there's a lot of fans you know that we are Hispanic and we like the sport you know it's not just a white sport and uh even he's a good um picture you know but he's not the greatest to be making all of us comments you know and uh i heard that he's going to some kind of mental evaluation you know correct but he's already had it as a matter of fact i believe but that does not going to do

anything good good to him but because you know that this people they're already born with that um racist and then that blood you know not gonna change that all i got to say that is this guy's crazy man he makes money from the people that like him and he's treating him treating the people bad you know that's totally crazy well okay Nelson thank you i don't know if it's genetic or not but i think it'll all as as mr. o 'Neal said a buck said it'll all take care of itself oh amiga i think he's gone yeah how many teams did you play for just only the Memphis red sock please the Memphis red sock for 1937 then i went to the the monarchs in 1938 and i was there through 55 wow how did you get to the monarchs well and actually i played for a team actually the street port Agamijans that street port Louisiana i played for that team and it was like a farm team for the cancer say the monarchs and uh they trained in street port

that year in 1937 and i was there in the manager they liked me and wanted me to play with them but in 1937 what had happened is they had a young man who had broke his leg in the year before and they had to give him a chance and so they say well in buck we want you but uh what we want to do we want to give this guy a chance so i want to give i'm going to sing you over the Memphis red socks to play and next year you come with us and that's the way to happen wow what do you think about baseball in the inner city i was reading recently that there's just um the major league baseball hasn't really done a lot as far as getting more kids from the inner city to be involved because there's so much recruiting from Latin American countries and that sort of thing well you know what they started though it's RBI that's returning baseball to the inner city see we've got a lot of kids at Chicago Los Angeles cancer city New York City and we got kids now playing all over Atlanta Hank

Aaron got a lot to do with that so major league baseball is actually promoting this because why they're promoting it see what happened in uh major league baseball had a built -in clientele with Negro league ball yeah well after Jackie Robinson yeah but they they didn't didn't hang to it what they did is uh they moved baseball to the uh suburbs they moved baseball to serve it because all all teams i remember right in Atlanta when i came here it was waters had a baseball team that's right yeah more house had a baseball team Atlanta you had a baseball team clock had a baseball team they were playing baseball but no you understand what i mean they moved but hey Georgia Georgia is playing baseball Georgia Tech is playing baseball you see these are the things that happen so so but now with how we want the guys the kids in the inner city playing ball because what is having

the kids in inner city basketball football right well we'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment power okay welcome back to power point

we've been discussing those great Negro leagues and the incredible athletes of an historic alliance and we are joined by the legendary buck O 'Neal and so pleased to have him here with us and i want to get to our phone calls before we go away um let's go to Allen in Maryland hey Allen hello uh buck yes hi this uh Allen Cohen Columbia Maryland that i know i'm saying what a lot of other people said but it's a great honor and privilege talking to you and uh thank you i loved hearing you and Ken Burns baseball series at other times and i'd love to have a chance to meet you sometime i hope so but in the meantime this uh you're probably gonna ask this before it's kind of a theoretical question but i'm sure many people have wondered and thought you might be a good person answer how would the major leagues have been different if they'd been integrated earlier say around roothed time and all the players like you Josh Gibson in central page etc etc Oscar Charleston had had played with roothed Gary Demaggio etc well and it would have been a different game

because what you would have had and then see what you had in the major league baseball you just had the the best right athlete in the world right pain baseball right now then you would have had the best athletes in the world playing baseball yeah uh i'm just trying to think of you know how the teams would have been different and uh you know if you had Josh Gibson catcher on the Yankees when they i don't know the exact chronology when bay breuth was in right field and uh it just i guess well would have boosted the caliber of the game just as it's been boosted since since Jackie Robinson came in well and one thing about it is is Jackie Robinson changed the way you play at baseball when Jackie Robinson just now this was a good era in baseball Jackie Robinson Campanella Don Nookum uh -huh Larris Dolby Willie Mays Ernie Banks Hanky Irons right you understand what I mean all of this now you got the best talent in the world right

playing baseball that was an era of great great baseball where that when you mean where there was a sudden infusion of talent that hadn't been there before that's right wouldn't good but what i'm saying you got the best white that's leading the world you got the best black athlete in the world you got the best uh uh uh spanish Spanish athlete in the world isn't what you got the best athletes in the world saying people were in before this is why when you they said uh uh they were comparing how could you compare a Ruth and uh Josh Gibson yeah see Ruth was hitting against the best white pitches in the world right and Josh was hitting against the best black pitches in the world but now what would have happened if Ruth was hitting against the best pitches in the world right and Josh was hitting against the best pitches in the world see that was the big this is that was the big boss this is what segregation did right see at one time

standing in this studio here it it would have been a white person's opinion on everything I wouldn't be sitting here I know the young leader over there talking to me she wouldn't been sitting there right you understand what I mean yeah and this part that I'm sitting here it would have been a white guy that played with Atlanta crackers yeah you understand but then you would have had uh somebody on television yeah also wait oh of course yeah of course hey Alan thanks so much for your phone call let's go to Larry and ball tomorrow also listening to w e a a hey Larry hi how are you doing great your question from mr. O 'Neill it's a pleasure uh talking to you uh the gentleman you just uh talk before me all of the questions that I wanted to ask you he pretty much uh summed it all up what I was going to say was it it would been interesting because I talked to gentlemen on my job and they were talking about Dave Roof and Ty Cobb and Ted Williams and and I said and I told them that they weren't the greatest players of their day because there wasn't an

inclusiveness of black players in the major league because you mentioned a guy about a name of Oscar Charleston a gentleman that I had never heard of you know and and they're ain't even talking about the black players and Hispanic players that probably wanted to play baseball but they went and got off the jobs because they figured they couldn't have made a good living there so you know the world pretty much never did get a chance to see uh who was really the greatest of all time during that time because the players nowadays like you're Mark McGuire and you're Bouchette and these guys they're playing against everybody so these are just great players because everyone is inclusive in baseball so it would have been interesting to see you and and Josh Gibson and and uh statue page and all those guys at a young age playing in the major leagues and I think that would have changed the course of history in terms of records that stand today yeah and I just want to say it's a pleasure talking to you and uh you know just thank you all right thank you Larry you're okay what was your proudest moment in baseball my proudest moment in

baseball in 1943 we opened the season in Memphis Tennessee Kansas City Monarchs the Memphis Red Sox east of Sunday I'll tell you what the first time up at bat I doubled the next time up I sang the next time up I hit a home run over the left few and the full time up I hit the ball left son and looked like it was going out the park I say hit the fence and I got round the third baseball did hit the fence bounced back in in between the uh left fuel and the center fueler I could have made a home run standing the guy that's called the coach calling me on I stopped right there because I wanted to triple that meant I hit for the cycle and that was a great day at the bat for me go to the hotel I'm relaxing and William Disney who was I was traveling secretary he was downstairs at the restaurant in the hotel the man that ran the restaurant in the hotel his wife was a school teacher and uh Disney said but come downstairs I got

some people I want you to meet so uh this man's wife had brought some young schoolteaches to meet the ball players and when I got to the door was actually the door was facing just like this table in that winter when I owned the door and the people all these people were sitting right in front of the door and I look right in young woman's face and I walk straight to I say my name Buck O 'Neill what's yours and she said my name is aura yeah we were married for 51 years that was a great day fantastic oh Buck it was such a pleasure to have you on the show good being you know I got to learn your secret to to youth well I'm one thing about just keep living there you go thank you so much and we want to say the book is called I was right on time great pictures great stories thank you so much and stay tuned to PowerPoint coming up next the images of the black press PowerPoint news is produced by Bruce Dorton the production

manager is Glenn Simmons with production assistance from Markey Lofton PowerPoint studio engineer is Art Sweat the call screener is Cherry Anne Holder Katina Carvajalis is the marketing intern the associate producer for PowerPoint is Rosemary Holmes the executive producer is Reggie Hex PowerPoint theme is from the CDF stops by Craig production assistance for PowerPoint is provided by WCLK FM a broadcast service of Clark Atlanta University PowerPoint comes to you live from the studios of Peach State Public Radio a 12 station network serving all of Georgia PowerPoint is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the National Legacy Foundation this is PowerPoint a production of Hicks and Associates production and broadcast of PowerPoint is made possible by a grant from the

Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the National Legacy Foundation a non -profit organization committed to enhancing preserving and restoring the legacy and history of life in America this is PowerPoint an information age clearinghouse for news issues and ideas that impact the African -American community the nation and the world and welcome back to PowerPoint live from the studios of Peach State Public Radio in Atlanta Georgia I'm Carmen Burns the media whether it's print radio television or even the internet it's the ultimate source for news and information is reported by journalists and experts but what about the role of African Americans within the press from reporters to producers is their substantial representation throughout the media what are the challenges of black owned publications and news programs such as PowerPoint and how crucial is the African -American consumer when sponsorship and advertising is needed we'll discuss these topics and more with

representatives from the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Newspaper Publishers Association images of the black press up next on PowerPoint but first these headlines from PowerPoint news with news and information to empower the community this is PowerPoint good evening I'm Bruce Jordan a Muslim cleric from South Africa has been reportedly been charged with threatening to bomb the U .S. Embassy in neighboring Zimbabwe Zimbabwe state controlled herald reports the embassy had been closed to the public for several days for security reasons there's been no official comment from American officials the herald reports cleric Muhammad Yesudahs will remain in custody on charges of threatening to commit accident Yesudahs went to the embassy on Christmas Eve and told a security guard he

planned to detonate a vehicle loaded with explosives a number of historically black colleges and universities remain on alert this evening after receiving letters with racial slurs and pictures of a swat sticker each of the letters ended with the words the white race will be preserved forever among the schools receiving the letters Lincoln University North Carolina Central University Oakwood College Mahari Medical College and Fiske University no charges have been filed against a Jacksonville Florida man who swallowed 55 glass pipes used to smoke crack cocaine 35 year old man is recovering in a Brunswick Georgia hospital after surgeons removed the finger -sized paraphernalia from the man's stomach Brunswick police investigator Allison Dredy says that an investigation is ongoing she said the man apparently had swallowed the pipes while high on crack and did not realize what he was doing she said he had ingested them over a couple of months and that has been three

months since the eighth the last one Dredy says the man was visiting relatives in Brunswick when he went to the southeast Georgia Medical Center emergency room complaining of abdominal pains the hospital released no information on the patient some wealthy high school students reportedly have found a way to get special treatment when taking their SATs a Los Angeles Times says a growing number of students are claiming they have disabilities even when they were in advanced classes with high grade point averages the idea is to get extra time when taking the college entrance exams in hopes of boosting their scores the paper studied data from the scholastic assessment test it found that the number of students applying for special considerations on the SAT had soared since 1994 and most of that growth is among rich white males the report says some parents find eight psychologists who will write a diagnosis such as attention deficit disorder that might give their child an edge one expert says giving a student an extra 10 minutes to complete each part of the exam can mean a 100

point increase in the test score a private high school in Tennessee has decided to drug test the entire student body Christian brothers high school which has nearly 900 students will start to drug testing this fall any student refusing to take the test will be expelled a student who tests positive will meet with his or her parents and school officials discuss counseling the student will be tested again 100 days later and will be expelled if the second test is positive the head of the Christian Brothers Parents Association says school officials that input from parents and students before deciding to implement the program parents will pay for the test which costs $60 per student along with tuition the test will scan for marijuana cocaine PCP methamphetamines and opiates including heroin it will not test for alcohol in the world of entertainment one of the stars of the young and the restless is the new host of soul train Shemar Moore has

played Malcolm Winters on the soaps since 1994 he replaces the shows created Don Cornelius he says Cornelius started something wonderful and funky and he'll take good care of it one of the item of interest hurricane Carter is long out of jail but some of the men who guarded him are still there and that helped Denzel Washington prepare to star in the hurricane the guards were able to Washington how Carter survived 19 years behind bars for murders he didn't commit they say Carter held on by refusing to act like a guilty man Washington says prison breaks most men but Carter was never broken the hurricane opened in more theaters on Friday and that is the news this evening on PowerPoint I'm Bruce Thornton good evening and welcome back to PowerPoint live from Atlanta Georgia I'm Carmen Burns now tonight

we're going to address the role of African Americans in the media in the press we want to focus on not only reporters and TV anchors radio but also producers writers and those in front or behind the cameras or those who write for newspapers whether they be in the news or entertainment industry we're going to talk about the role in our community our studio guests include John Jay Oliver Jr. President of the National newspaper publishers association the trade organization for publishers of black owned and operated newspapers in the US and Will Sutton president of the National Association of Black Journalists the world's largest media association for people of color now both gentlemen are in Atlanta tonight for the annual trumpet awards which honors African Americans and feels as diverse as law politics entertainment and sports as we just heard previously from the great book O 'Neill and the event is sponsored by the Turner Broadcasting System good evening gentlemen thank you for being with us thank you for having us how do you feel

following in those footsteps of Buck O 'Neill oh boy you got a lot of fun for me now I speak for myself can't go back that many decades we invite all of you to get involved in this discussion our PowerPoint hotline number is 1 8 8 8 6 6 7 3 2 2 4 that's 1 6 6 7 3 2 2 4 let's talk a little bit about your organizations and what you all doing which represents starting with you will in ABJ. Okay, the National Association of Black Journalists this year was founded 25 years ago, December 12, 1975 in Washington, D .C., went about 40 some brothers and sisters gathered because they felt a void, frustration, anger, and a desire to bring about some more change in primarily mainstream white daily news organizations.

Our organization has grown from 40 some 25 years ago to 3 ,000 members today, so that in and of itself shows that we have had some progress, but the number of journalists has grown at the same time, and 3 ,000 is nothing compared to the percentages in the media. The National Association of Black Journalists has about 70 professional chapters and about 30 to 40 student chapters. We work to identify, recruit, and develop young black folks who want to go into the media, and we look to identify some who don't know what they want to do and to convince them that this is a wonderful opportunity to have a great impact. We work to sensitize the media about racism in the workplace and in coverage, and we also work to provide our members with opportunities and skills growth.

We try to make sure that we have opportunities for members to go into newsroom management in particular, so that we can have great impact, just some of the things. That's a nutshell. What about the mission of the National Newspaper Publishers Association? We are a trade association made up of approximately 200 black owned and operated weekly newspapers, which span the entire country from California to New York City to just about every state. We were created or established in 1940 as a result of wanting to create a network to establish the presence of media for black people. Since that time, we have evolved, and we really, at this point, are focusing on improving or acting as a resource

for all the various members of our association. Again, the black owned and operated newspapers. We are evolving into a service -based organization promoting the importance of advertising in our publications that serve the African -American communities across the country. We still like to get you involved in the discussion. Here's the number 1 -888 -667 -3224 that's 1 -888 -667 -3224. Let's go to Barry in Houston, listening to KTSU. Hey, Barry, how are you? Good. Good. I want to tell all the records out there who listen to PowerPoint to be sort of contribute to their local radio stations. Thank you. Here's a commercial for you. Appreciate that. Yeah, questions for the other guests. I'll talk about the gap being left out of history as in not making the notation of the black and the winners and black writers. I argue that it's the blackest story and the responsibility to fill those gaps. The first question is, what room does

responsibility live for black images in the American media? Or if you think the Wall Street Journal of the New York Times is not going a good enough job to bring forth positive images that then fall on the Houston International Black Journalists? Well, I think that is a broader responsibility. I think the National Association and Black Journalists and should work with its members to try to monitor the images and the words from the inside. There are enough of us now in enough newsrooms that we can have some impact, but we only have that impact if we open our mouths. So it's not enough just to have people with skin color like mine. In place, it has no impact if we just sit there and do just like white folks do because then we're

not adding any additional value. So we've got to be in there and we've got to fight for what we think is right. We've got to bring a different voice to the table and we've got to look for different images and representations of our people to be broadcast and to be aired and to be printed whether it's on paper or online. That's part of our responsibility. I also think that our communities have a responsibility not to accept what is wrong over and over again. To work with Black Journalists and to identify those opportunities where we can have some positive impact, to respond to negative situations and to make our voices heard, to realize that Black Journalists are for the most part there and ready to help that we play a different role in the newsroom. So there are some things that we would not be able to do but our communities can do.

And I think we in NABJ have a responsibility to make sure that our brothers and sisters in the community know what some of those opportunities are. Understand how the system works and to make sure that people are able to put their finger on the pulse and make some things happen. What kind of images are really the most disturbing? Well, survey after survey shows that people first respond positively or negatively to visual images, photographs in a case of newspapers and in case of television, the tape. Not what words are accompanying them, the actual visual image. And so I think in the case of television, we have to be careful that we're getting a broader spectrum of African Americans on television. So when our television stations go out, what are the images that are bringing brought back that we don't have just one type of Black person? I don't mind

if we have images of Black folks in curlers and short pants and with some teeth missing and maybe some broken English if that's not the dominant thing and if there's some context, if there's some reason for that individual to be a part of that segment. But most of the time there isn't. There is a covering a murder or something in the neighborhood and you usually see somebody who can't pronounce words and you never see anyone else to compliment that. So we have to look for those opportunities and that's why it's really important for Black folks to be producers, Black folks to be writers, Black folks to be editors in newsrooms. We have done a better job with on -air talent and we certainly need more because of revolving door with people turning over so much. In a case of

newspapers, that photograph on the front page gets a lot more impact than other pictures throughout the paper. Well, Mr. Oliver, how often do you see really these days see really bad images in the newspapers? If you're talking about white newspapers that reflect a level of insensitivity occasionally, but it's part of the role of the Black press to hold the White Press accountable when these things happen. And it's part of the role of Black press to give the people a form to more or less vent their disappointments when various images become too repetitive in connection with the negativity that appear. It also happens with respect to corporations. Sometimes we read about corporations saying the wrong thing or using a wrong image. It's a slip and generally it's not intentional but it does offend the population and again

it's the Black press that we're the ones who basically call it up and more or less hold the people to task for it. I'm the history of Black folks trying to get respect, if you will, in connection with how we are projected in the media. Really comes, hasn't isn't something of recent vintage. It's really been as long as the Black press has been there. We are the ones who really have raised the objection of, well first of all, you try to exclude us. And then you try to basically make us feel bad because we are as far as feeling less than normal human beings. But it was back in the 30s that the objection initially was made in the Black press that began to get people sensitive to the importance of shouting out objecting. Because only at that point will the majority population begin

to become sensitive to thinking about what do they think and how would they feel? We want to encourage you to call. Are you satisfied with what you see on TV or what you read in the newspaper? Call 1 -888 -667 -3224. That's 1 -888 -667 -3224. Mr. Son, you were talking about the NABJ being born out of frustration and anger. Has any of that changed any at all? I know there aren't really that many Black managers or news directors in the country right now. And I mean, isn't that another level that you need to take that frustration and anger to? Well, it is and more of us have to be prepared to take on those roles. Some of us have prepared ourselves to take on newsroom management roles. But some of us are not interested in going in that direction because of the BS that comes along with it regardless of the person of color or not. I mean, it's just a lot of meetings and

budget and some people don't want to deal with those kinds of things. But it is where you have real impact. It's not that your name is attached to certain coverage, but your fingers are in different pots, more so than a single story at a time. There are still far too few people of color in daily news organizations as it is about 11 % in newspapers and fewer than 6 % in management. So we do have a lot of work to do in the overall and particularly in management. And as we look at management, we also have to realize that there are risk, but more of us have to take that risk. Management, you're less likely to have probation because you're in probation every day. If you don't do your job over a period of time, you can lose your job.

Probably a lot easier than if you're in rank and file. But that's a risk that more of us have to take if we're going to have greater impact. We really do. What about in the newspaper business? Have you had to hold many feet to the fire, so to speak? All the time. Yes. First of all, you're always trying to make sure that the quality is there. From a black newspaper perspective, however, we are also trying to improve content, networking. There is also the, you owe a substantial obligation to your readership and your community. And you've got to make sure that every time you publish, you come out with the very best. Black newspapers are generally viewed by the communities that they serve as a source of, let's say, confident trustworthiness. When they see a

story or an advertisement appearing in the black press, it's generally interpreted by the readers as the people who are sending the messages want to talk to me. Because I am black. If that same message appears in a general publication, it's not quite sure. Therefore, if you, let's say if you have a help wanted ad, that basically reflects a position that a particular employer wants to fill. If it appears in a white daily newspaper, black folks won't basically simply have the same response. They will, if in fact, that same ad appears in a black newspaper. Because the message is, yes, we are looking for black folks as well. And therefore, the black folks are more inclined to respond to it more so than I believe if it were appearing in a daily. The point is that because you have an obligation

to uphold to your readership and your community, you've got to more or less apply the same standards as if we were daily. And at times, you do have to more or less take additional steps to ensure that the discipline and the commitment is there. What about sponsorship, I mean, or advertisers? And that has got to be a struggle in a lot of instances as far as the circulation. Yes, yes. Advertising in 19, well, in the year 2000. It's not the struggle that used to be 20 or 30 years ago. Because we don't have to establish the fact that black folks can create black folks have dollars, they have jobs. Black folks represent a major part of the economic force of this country now. And within the last 15 years, we finally reached a level that we don't have to spend a lot of time convincing the major advertisers out there that, yes, putting an ad in a black

newspaper will result in somebody buying your product. But they know that black people spend money. But the point is that you still have got to confirm to most your advertisers that they will get the response, even though they understand that black folks do have to dollars. And that's a constant battle. It really is. Because on one hand, you have radio. On the other hand, you have TV. On the other hand, you also have the Internet. You have all these things which are constantly creating sort of competitive pressures that force most newspapers, including black press, to become more innovative in connection with addressing marketing needs of their advertising clients. And as far as circulation, circulation represents a major threat because black neighborhoods in 2000 are not the same as they were 30 years ago. The hood in most major urban areas is not as easily definable. Black folks have prospered particularly in the last 30 years. They have moved to suburbia. They have

moved into integrated neighborhoods. And the challenge of circulation departments, particularly of paid circulation departments, is to track these migrations so that we can deliver. You almost have to get a desert storm approach in connection with developing the science of circulation is no longer simply the delivery of newspaper. You have to really become very, very adept at finding the demographics and following the migration patterns as people more or less are able to spread throughout the metropolitan regions that they are now doing in most urban areas. It is a challenge, but all newspapers are facing it. It makes you very creative, doesn't it? It does. Marketing, however, is now the secret. Marketing was an unknown commodity probably 20 years ago. And a recent survey that we took at the Afro about three years ago where I simply called members of various newspapers in Baltimore, Washington, D .C. regions to find out exactly how important marketing

concepts were or whether or not they had marketing departments. Most of the weeklies did not. Most of them basically had not really looked at marketing as an important factor in their everyday management planning strategies. But there were an emerging few that were beginning to recognize that marketing is in the key to driving advertising sales and circulation. And I dare say that probably like most daily's who also in the last 15 years have developed sophisticated marketing your weekly newspapers are beginning to become smarter and realizing that you do have to become innovative. We want to encourage you one more time to get involved in the discussion on the black press 1 -888 -667 -3224. That's 1 -888 -667 -3224. What is the responsibility of the black media and the black members rather of the mainstream media as far as the African -American community is concerned? I mean

just targeting making sure that the right images are out there we touched on that but it has to go beyond that. I think it has to go beyond that. Again if we are there and we're not bringing our community's perspectives to the table then we're really not adding additional value. One of the things that I would do as a reporter in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia inquire, first to Kerry Post in Jersey and then in Philadelphia inquire, was to try to get as much stuff into the paper as I could. But if I couldn't, I'd call them the Philadelphia Tribune. And I made sure that they had the information that I thought should be out there somewhere. And that was a function of how I operated going into the presidency of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists and to make sure that folks understood that I felt they had a broader

obligation than their simple paycheck loyalty to the one place where they were. Did they know you were doing this? Well you don't go in enough but the way I looked at it is I gave you first choice. And if you didn't have sense enough to put this in, then I need to make sure that somebody else does. Certainly. We'll be back in just a moment with more of our discussion. Stay with us. We'll be back in just a moment with more of our discussion.

For more information, the number is 1 -800 -908 -2883 or the website is www .powerpointradio .com Our guests are John J. Oliver Jr.

President of the National Newspaper Publishers Association of Black Owned and Operated Newspapers in the U .S. And Will Sutton, President of the National Association of Black Journalists, the world's largest media association for people of color. And once again, we'd love to hear from you. Our phone number is 1 -888 -667 -3224. That's 1 -888 -667 -3224. Now, just recently, as a matter of fact, just this past week, the NAACP and a couple of the networks have announced an agreement, so to speak. Initially, the NAACP was going to threatening to boycott the possibility of a boycott because there was not enough representation of black people on TV shows by all major networks as well. But two of the networks, ABC and NBC have reached an agreement, and I think they are talking about forthcoming agreements with the rest of them, CBS Box, and so on. What do you think? Is this going to make a difference?

Obviously, it's going to make a difference, apparently, with respect to the back office staffing the people that you don't see. I think that it will not make an immediate difference with respect to the people that you are not seeing right now on your screens, but eventually it will. I think the whole objective that Qaisi and the NAACP had was to take the sensitivity of the major networks up to steps. And I think, first of all, the manner in which they threw the gauntlet down in July was rather shocking because it more or less was totally unexpected, in most instances, as far as I could tell. Well, indeed, the night that he made the announcement in his speech at the NAACP convention, within the first three hours every major network had called Qaisi to let him know that they were aware and

beginning to make plans to respond to the void that he had more or less made the American public aware of. But I think it's going to be a while before you see the number of Black stars that we are not seeing right now. As an African American, I would enjoy the opportunity of more choice on primetime programming, where there are more African Americans on the cast, more African Americans as writers, directors, producers of those programs. As President of the National Association of Black Journalists, I am working for and want these same networks to look at the images and the stories that we are putting on our news and public affairs programs. I think that we do need more Black actors and writers and producers on those

programs. But the reality of television, take it out of the context, black, white or otherwise, reality is entertainment, funny, focused. So I like to be entertained too, and I want to see some diversity in my entertainment. But when we get to the serious business of covering this world, we need far greater importance placed on diversity of who's in front of the camera, who's behind the camera, who's writing the stories, who's taking the pictures, who's shooting the video. And that's a greater concern for me than some of the other things that have been talked about the last word. But how often do you get complaints from Black viewing audiences that there aren't enough Black people on the air as far as your network or your local newscasts are concerned, where as you might, I'm just wondering if you might hear more of a vocal outcry for entertainment, and you know, maybe if there's enough in entertainment, then it will spill over into the newscasts.

Well, maybe it's the nature of our organization, the National Association of Black Journalists, that I don't hear as much about the Black entertainment factor. Certainly among our members, there is some concern about entertainment and news. But our greater priority, our mission is focused on the news and public affairs programming for newspapers, television, radio, and online operations. I just think it would be far more advantageous for the African -American communities to have great emphasis put it on newsroom diversity, coverage diversity, and who's making those decisions. Okay, let's go to our caller in Washington listening to W .E .A. Good evening. My question basically was, this past week, Mr. Young lady from the Gore campaign, after a female, had made some statements about Mr. J .C. Watts

and retired General Colin Powell. And I wonder what is the take in terms of why African -American media really, really, when it's black on black, just because they happen to be, first say, not liberal, but more on the conservative side or Republican, that they're always deemed in the worst light. You hear a lot about what Jesse's doing or what someone else is doing, but when you hear when in the two -party system, like the United States, something comes up like that, we never hear any cries about the diversity in terms of having equal representations on both sides, especially in our media. Yet, if unfortunately, as they would say, the white media would play it up, then they would be ostracized. So I guess my

question is, where does our African mainstream media stand on that point? Okay, thanks. We, I think the black press has an obligation to reflect the very nature of the communities they serve. And black folks, as in a political spectrum, they are as conservative, as your most conservative, and they may be as liberal. We encourage extreme conservative black points of view in most of our newspapers, because we think that the discussion among black people on political issues on both sides of the fence will really make the entire community a lot stronger. So we don't hesitate to run,

let's say, a JCWatt point of view, if that's point of view happens to be conservative, and I might add that a lot of JCWatt's point of view is they are not as conservative as people think they are. And at the same time, we also will run on strong Williams, who's also very conservative, for purposes of generating the discussion in a community, which we think is healthy. But what about the treatment of that story in the Gore campaign, the, the, the blasting of JCWatt's and Colin Powell? How was that treated? Do you, have you seen any, any, any dailies, any, any prints on that at all, or heard any new stories? Well, the, the sister's name is Donna Brazil, and she's been around for a while in, in, in politics. And I don't know her personally, but from all that I've seen, it seems she has a history of speaking her mind. And that sometimes gets us in trouble with some folks. So I, I respect her for

being in such a position and being willing to say what she really thought. Yeah, obviously it's politics. It's the big ball of wax running for president. She's not the candidate. The candidate immediately moved to, called JCWatt's, Colin Powell, and others to make sure that he told them that he thought that they were okay and that they were doing a great job and no offense was intended. But she also obviously is a good political strategist, otherwise she would not be in that role. In terms of the coverage, I think that it did receive fair play. I don't think it was as larger story as some other political campaign gaffes over the years. So for the most part, it was inside, and I think that was appropriate. All right, let's go to Corey in North Carolina, listening to WNSU.

Good evening, Corey. I have a question to Mr. Sun and Mr. Oliver. Is the cap closing? What I'm saying is, it seems like the mainstream newspapers actually, you know, like in parentheses, the white newspapers that, when it's something happens, they portray us maybe in a negative light. And here we are in 2000, and you would think, you know, things would get better and we would unite. But is it changing to where the mainstream newspapers, the one the big name newspapers that have been around for many years, have started to recognize and hear our voices and are trying to change this whole, like why we're having this whole discussion about, whether or not we are being, you know, treated right or such. Do you think

the gap is closed any? Well, it's my question. Let's put that out there. Go ahead. Well, I think some of the gap has been closed, Corey, in the context of getting the issue on the agenda and talking about it. I think where we have a bigger problem is going beyond the talking about it. Actually, having people hired, having people in the room when the decisions are being made, and you mentioned big companies, big operations. I take it by that you mean such places as the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlanta General Constitution, Miami -Hero, Los Angeles Times, places like that. If that's what you mean, then there are many more black folks in those newsrooms today. Then there used to be, and I think the National Association of Black Journalists can take

credit for at least a part of that for continuing to push. However, when you look at those newsrooms with progress in terms of raw numbers of African Americans in the newsroom, then we have to look at where those people are. And you start asking them about who is their publisher, their editor, their managing editor, even the deputy managing editor or assistant managing editor. Then we got a major falloff because there's lots of progress in the overall raw numbers, but who's in charge? It's not us for the most part, or where we are in charge, we're one of many. Or we have a small piece of the pie, but we really don't have our fingers over enough of the organization. So that's where we really have some big gaps, and that's with the big guys. Then you move to smaller and medium markets, then it falls off even more. Because there's not even a sensitivity

to have African Americans in positions of authority and responsibility, because they think it's enough to continue things as tradition has held over the decades with having white male editors for the most part, white male publishers for the most part. And to have those people in place, and to continue it the way that they have for many years, and that their progress, their viewer progress is, but I've got this black reporter over here on a portion of a city beat. Isn't that good enough? Isn't that enough for you guys? No, it's not enough, not if we're going to have real impact. But when you're talking about these newspapers, a lot of them are owned by corporate giants. I mean, you have these big companies that own like 100 newspapers, and they own small, medium, and large market papers. I mean, you're really talking to, you know, the big guy, as opposed to the conglomerates, as opposed to mom and pop, who own this, you know, on back in the old days. So, I mean, you would think that they

would see that, I mean, in the big picture. No, they don't. But that's what I'm talking about. It's on the lips, but it's not in action. It's on the lips. They're talking about it. The gap is still very big. I mean, the point about how images are being projected continues to be particularly in the political sphere, where black politicians continue to be fair game. For many, white daily newspapers, where there is a whole list of, in the last two years, I think Oprah just did a show on black politicians who have been wrongly defraught and attacked, whose careers have been in essence destroyed, and who were ultimately exonerated by what they were being accused and white daily newspapers. But doesn't that go through the justice system, though? I mean, the newspaper can't really try someone. They're the ones who generally uncovered the original stories, and sort

of like in Baltimore, there was a state senator who was the subject of an expoze. And he was, that ran in white daily newspaper. So, what did the paper do? The paper accused made certain accusations in an expoze series that gave the impression that this particular person was taking illegal advantage of certain positions that he had, and it precipitated an examination at the state level that resulted in him being dismissed. The first expel, the first black, or the first senator in the history of state of Maryland, as far as I can remember, followed by a criminal lawsuit which completely exonerated this man. Does he now own that newspaper? No, but his career is, you know. Right. All right, let's go to Betty and Alabama, listening to WVAS. Good evening, Betty. Good evening, everyone. All right,

thanks for holding. What's your question? Yes, I have a two -pronged question. First of all, I think that it is a wonderful thing to have the objective that the Black Publishers Association has. But I wonder, at the heart of some of these objectives, are we as inclusive as far as the race could be, while it is a probable thing to be concerned about the images on the screen? I would think the preparation of the youngsters would be foremost in the mind of each of us. And I sincerely believe that if there was a concerted effort by a Black Publishers to sound the gong about the standings of our Black students, as far as norms are in any school, in any state, in the nation, and got behind a concerted effort, I sincerely believe that things would improve quite a bit. I

agree. I think that the word was concerted effort, and that means that there needs to be clearly a national movement. And that is one of the objectives that we have this year is to create a network that will permit us to have national movements on issues such as education. And that can not only state what is it that we are not going to tolerate, but also help establish the standards that we think are absolutely necessary for the education of our children. Better your teacher. Yes, I am, but listen, I sincerely, when I say this, that there is, that there just aren't enough of us who are really able to exhale as we should. I would think that 80 % of the youngsters ought to be able to measure up to a norm. Regardless of whether or not we set them or not, we are right now. We did not set them, but we have to abide by the norms that have been set for us. And so that's where I think that

a lot of attention should be given. Well, Betty, thank you so much for your call. We appreciate that. Now, you're tuned to PowerPoint and stay tuned to this public radio station to order an audio cassette of this or any other edition of PowerPoint, the numbers 1 -888 -682 -6500. It's 1 -888 -682 -6500. We'll be back with more of your phone calls in just a moment. Thank you very much.

Welcome back to PowerPoint, where we're talking with John J. Oliver, president of the National News Paper Publishers Association and Will Sutton, newly elected president of the National Association of Black Journalists. Questions or comments for our guests? Call the PowerPoint hotline at 1 -888 -667 -3224. That's 1 -888 -667 -3224. Let's go to Corrigan in Baltimore, listening to WEAA. Good evening. First, I wanted to say that I'm one of the greatest experiences that I have had in

my life is having the Murphy Oliver family to be somewhat of a tutelage in my life. How you doing, John? How you doing, Corrigan? You gonna put them on a spot tonight? I'm putting them on a spot tonight. I was listening as I was coming up the highway, and I heard the young lady talk about the situation with Colin Powell and J .C. White. Well, John knows where I stand on that. But at any rate, one of the sad things that I find in our communities is that our people, and when I say people, I mean on a multicultural level, they're truly not educated to the problems that face our society. The one thing that I can say within the state of Maryland is that the Afro -American newspaper is on target whether it's locally, nationally, or internationally, because they don't just deal with the media playward African -American issues, they deal with issues that deal with

people. And one of the things that I find that I like, that Elizabeth Oliver showed me as a young man growing up through that era, was that you deal with the issues and each issue always hits every person whether they're black, white, red, or yellow. And one of the blessings that I know is that something's coming up in 2000, and I'm hoping that John will support me with that. And I'll talk to him later when I see him. You guys have a good night. Thank you so much for your call. It sounds like he was taught very well. Yes. All right, you got any more callers out there? Does he think it might be picking on you tonight? I don't know. All right, let's see. Okay, let's go to Dale in Charleston, listening to WSCIA Dale. Thanks for holding. Oh, hello. I would like to ask a very sort of try to get out of

specific questions just to educate myself about the black press. And I wanted to ask the panelists if they could talk about a specific story that they either knew or did themselves or were involved in, that they thought the black press featured that wouldn't have been featured in the mainstream press, but the story that they really remembered that was publicized or that this black press did. And I don't even necessarily mean an international story, even a local story, if they could talk about that. Okay, thanks, Dale, for your call. Can you think of anything? I know you've been bringing these for a long time. I'll give an example of a time a few years ago when I was working for the Philadelphia Inquire, and I was so related to have moved through the various seats to get into the main city room as a reporter. And an amazing opportunity had presented itself in Philadelphia because a guy named W. Wilson Good

was running for mayor of Philadelphia. And if elected, he would become the first black mayor of the city of Philadelphia. I believe that the scrutiny that Wilson Good got was greater than other candidates. And that's okay, but I believe that if it were not for the power of the Philadelphia Tribune and WDIS radio, that Wilson Good would not have become mayor of Philadelphia. And I say that as somebody who went into city hall as a black reporter covering the good administration and the good city council and all of that, but I don't think I would not would have had the opportunity if it weren't for Philadelphia Tribune and WDIS. I don't think I would have been sitting there for the Philadelphia Inquire if those folks hadn't done their job. There are clearly

things, particularly in the last five years, where there has been distinctive differences between black and white. The first one that comes in my mind where the black newspapers have made a difference was reporting on O .J. Simpson. The reporting that you saw in the White Dailies was far more, let's say, on a negative side than most black Americans felt. And indeed, they felt that it was unfair. And then to more or less report the outcome, black folks had to go to a black newspaper to get a positive side. And also it was the only place you can clearly see that there was a distinction or difference between a black perspective on this national event

that clearly justified there being two sides of this thing. There are so many points in our history where the existence of what normally occurs when black folks are persecuted or at least they feel persecuted. The first thing that happens is they will call the black newspaper and tell their story to us first. We are their number one form to more or less get a fair presentation of something that they feel they have been, let's say, cheated or persecuted on purely because of the color of their skin. And it goes on, I mean, there isn't a week that we don't get phone calls in that nature. So in answering to this gentleman's question, pick up your local black newspaper. You'll find something there that you didn't know that is based upon. Okay. Well, we want to thank our guests for being with us. Thank you, Roger and Lisa. I'm sorry we couldn't get to you all tonight. And PowerPoint would like to thank the entire staff of the Urban Affairs Department on a special thank you to Zernona Clayton from Turner Broadcasting and Den Adley Phillips from Phillips Communications. They made it possible for all of our guests

to join us. Thank you, Mr. Oliver. Thank you, Mr. Sutton. The PowerPoint News is produced by Bruce Dorton, the production manager of Glenn Simmons, with production assistance from Markey Lawton. PowerPoint Studio Engineer is Art Sweat. The call screener is Cherry Anne Holder. Katina Carvajales is the marketing intern. The associate producer for PowerPoint is Rosemary Holmes. The executive producer is Reggie Hex. PowerPoints theme is from the CDF Stopps by Craig Harris. Production assistance for PowerPoint is

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