From the editor
In 1972, William H. Dilday Jr. became the first Black general manager of a television station in the U.S. — WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi. The Kerner Commission, formed in 1967 to identify the causes of widespread demonstrations in American cities, had delivered its report in 1968, concluding that racism was at the root of the civil unrest — and that media coverage of race was partly to blame. It made a number of recommendations, one of which was to advance Black people into journalism leadership roles.
One of the very few tangible actions taken in response to the Kerner Report was the transfer of WLBT’s ownership to a Black group, which hired Dilday.
During his time at WLBT, Dilday significantly increased the number of Black people and women on staff, in front of and behind the camera. In 1980, he refused to air an NBC miniseries because of its racist depictions of life on a plantation. His daughter, Erika, is now a journalist, too, at The Futuro Media Group. “As a Black station manager, [my father] knew the importance of the narrative,” she writes in Journalists Can Help People Tell Their Own Stories by Talking Less, Listening More, one of the essays in our The Newsrooms We Need Now series. “Without varied points of view and the ability of diverse voices to help shape the narrative, we are in danger of not just missing the story but doing harm.”
Other essays in our series take up the theme of diverse voices…
At a time when the Kerner Report is freshly relevant, these voices and many others are helping reshape the narrative of what journalism can and should be.
Sincerely,
James Geary
Editor, Nieman Reports
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