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The Media Strategy of Martin Luther King, Jr. January 1, 1967, to April 4, 1968

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The Media Strategy of Martin Luther King, Jr. January 1, 1967, to April 4, 1968 To End War and Poverty: The Media Strategy of Martin Luther King, Jr. January 1, 1967, to April 4, 1968 Stephen Gordon Foster Smith A Thesis in The Department of Communications Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Media Studies (Communications) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada August 2012 © Stephen Gordon Foster Smith, 2012 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Stephen Gordon Foster Smith Entitled: To End War and Poverty: The Media Strategy of Martin Luther King, Jr., January 1, 1967, to April 4, 1968 And submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Media Studies) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final Examining Committee: _____Owen Chapman_________________ Chair _____Monika Gagnon ________________ Examiner _____Graham Carr ___________________ Examiner _____Leslie Shade ___________________ Supervisor Approved by: ___________________________________ Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director ___________ 2012 ___________________________________ Dean of Faculty ABSTRACT To End War and Poverty: The Media Strategy of Martin Luther King, Jr. January 1, 1967, to April 4, 1968 Stephen Gordon Foster Smith Through 1967 until his assassination on April 4, 1968, American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. focused his internationally-recognized authority as a moral and religious leader against America's war in Vietnam and the values that he saw perpetuating the poverty of an estimated 40-million Americans. King’s so-called “new radicalism” presented the difficult challenge of trying to win favourable news coverage for views that challenged those of the news media and mainstream America. Through the transcripts of an FBI wiretap on the home phone of King's most trusted strategist, Stanley D. Levison, and other archival documents, this thesis seeks a better understanding of the media strategy that went into advancing King's antiwar views and his efforts to rid American society of poverty. Positioning himself between go-slow moderates and go-for-broke radicals, King promoted a compelling “militant middle” that wedded radical idealism and pragmatic realism into a dramatic message that the news media could not ignore. Such a strategy was not without its risks and left King facing media coverage that was often critical of his refusal to drop his opposition to the war and adopt a more moderate approach in his fight against poverty. Yet media coverage also provided a crucial forum for his “new radicalism” that King deliberately sought out and used to warn America that its tolerance of war, racism and poverty was leading to social catastrophe and the nation’s imminent “spiritual death.” iii Acknowledgements This thesis owes a debt of gratitude to a number of people whose support along the way has been invaluable, in particular my parents, M.M. (Bud) and Sheila Smith, Karina Marliss, and Leslie Regan Shade. I would also like to acknowledge the generous assistance of David J. Garrow, for his insight on Martin Luther King, Jr. and his prompt and thorough replies to my many emails along the way, and Adam Fairclough, for taking the time to speak with me at the start of this study and alerting me to the existence of the FBI transcripts, without which this study would not have been possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 “A great media problem” ......................................................................................................... 4 Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 7 Historical context .................................................................................................................... 8 Vietnam ............................................................................................................................ 8 The Poor People’s Campaign........................................................................................... 10 Ghetto Uprisings ............................................................................................................. 11 Black Power.................................................................................................................... 12 White backlash................................................................................................................ 15 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 17 FBI wiretap transcripts .......................................................................................................... 18 A word on news sources ........................................................................................................ 19 Media strategy: Vietnam........................................................................................................ 20 Media Strategy and the Poor People’s Campaign ................................................................... 22 CHAPTER I: Ain’t gonna study war no more ....................................................................... 27 Riverside............................................................................................................................... 29 The New York Times .............................................................................................................. 32 “A frustrating and very lonesome road” ................................................................................. 36 Media Strategy ...................................................................................................................... 40 Establish whom you are with ................................................................................................. 40 Retain your support, move them along .................................................................................. 45 King versus the black Establishment ............................................................................... 48 The Spring Mobilization ................................................................................................. 54 Assert the militant middle ..................................................................................................... 58 The militant middle and the news media .......................................................................... 60 The radical frame ............................................................................................................ 62 CHAPTER II: The Poor People’s Campaign ......................................................................... 70 A new challenge: Dramatizing poverty .................................................................................. 71 A Revolution of Values.......................................................................................................... 73 The Do-Nothing Congress ..................................................................................................... 75 The New York Times .............................................................................................................. 80 Civil disobedience and media Strategy .................................................................................. 82 Disruptive acts, constructive goals ......................................................................................... 86 A Poor People's Campaign .............................................................................................. 90 Countering the radical frame ........................................................................................... 92 To heal a sick nation .............................................................................................................. 96 A “sick" Congress ........................................................................................................... 97 The approaching flashpoint ............................................................................................. 98 The Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders .............................. 99 Convincing the middle-class ......................................................................................... 102 Assert King’s Leadership .................................................................................................... 105 Showdown for Nonviolence .......................................................................................... 105 Fight for recognition ..................................................................................................... 107 Neutralize Black Power/Black Nationalists.................................................................... 109 Stokely Carmichael ....................................................................................................... 113 A trouble-obsessed news media ..................................................................................... 115 Memphis ............................................................................................................................. 117 The "logic of the press" ................................................................................................
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