Copyright by Kathleen Oveta Mcelroy 2014
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Copyright by Kathleen Oveta McElroy 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Kathleen Oveta McElroy Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ‘US’ AND ‘THEM’: Black Columnists and Their Role in Shaping Racial Discourse Committee: Paula M. Poindexter, Supervisor Robert Jensen Thomas J. Johnson Regina Lawrence Eric Tang Dissertation SOMEWHERE BETWEEN “US” AND “THEM”: Black Columnists and Their Role in Shaping Racial Discourse by Kathleen Oveta McElroy, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2014 Acknowledgments Throughout my studies at the University of Texas at Austin, I often said (sheepishly but honestly): “It takes a village for me for me to get a doctorate.” Many people in the School of Journalism helped me on this journey: the faculty, staff (especially the graduate coordinator Sylvia Edwards), and my fellow graduate students, who are caring, funny, and indeed the best and the brightest. We remain scholastic cousins, even if I am the older relative. I am also grateful for being around undergraduates, whose enthusiasm and earnestness were a constant reminder of why I chose to teach them. But in completing this dissertation and this program, I am especially indebted to my chair, Dr. Paula M. Poindexter. Long before I entered the doctoral program, Dr. Poindexter asked me directly – as only she can – why would I leave a secure position in journalism for academia full time. It was a very good question that thankfully gave me pause; thanks to her astute observation, I did not attempt to earn a doctorate until I was indeed ready for the rigor of research. Since then, she has been my champion, coach, and mentor. With her grace, intelligence, patience, and determination, Dr. Poindexter is a force of nature whose sheer will got me this far. I could not have chosen a better committee – Drs. Robert Jensen, Tom Johnson, Regina Lawrence, and Eric Tang. Each gave more than time and intellectual heft to this research. Dr. Jensen’s faith in me kept me going. Dr. Johnson’s door was always open for my endless questions. I hope that Dr. Lawrence’s work and approach to media research iv rubs off on me. And Dr. Tang has inspired me to think about the world, race, and academia in ways I previously would not have imagined. I will never be able to repay Tracy Dahlby, who also has been my champion while instructing me by example how to teach with patience, humor and efficiency. He, Bill Minutaglio, Kate Dawson, Wanda Cash, and Drs. Mary Bock, Renita Coleman, Nick Lasorsa, Max McCombs, Stephen Reese, George Sylvie, and Rusty Todd never shooed me away when I asked for impromptu advice. Glenn Frankel, the school’s former director, was both an inspiration and a confidant, and taught me much about journalism and journalism administration. Indeed, every School of Journalism faculty member preaches and practices doing what is best for its graduate students. I also want to thank Dr. Marvin Hackert of the Harrington Fellows program, which not only provided financial relief but also access to a broad, extraordinary community of scholars at the University of Texas. I am also very grateful for the patience and encouragement of Dr. Derina Holtzhausen, the director of Oklahoma State’s School of Media & Strategic Communications, and my O.S.U. colleagues. I am grateful for the continuing support I have received from my former New York Times colleagues, who encouraged me to complete a master’s degree while I worked full time and then cheered me on as I embarked on an academic journey far from my journalistic home on Times Square. Finally, words cannot do justice to the love and support that only family can supply. My late parents, Lucinda and George McElroy, instilled in me a love of journalism and the value of education. Both “Macs” are inspirations – George as a v journalism educator and a pioneering journalist and columnist in the mainstream news media and the Black Press, and Lucinda as a sports-loving woman with a deep well of patience and love. Sitting around our dining room table as we traded sports sections every morning and afternoon remains my favorite memories of them. I am forever grateful to my four sisters, Toni, Linda, Sherridan, and Madeline, who cheered me on, shared in my ups and downs, read passages of my work without rolling their eyes, and on whose shoulders I sit. Their support and faith in me never wavered. Even though my name will be on this dissertation and on my degree, this work also belongs to them. vi Somewhere Between “Us” and “Them”: Black Columnists and Their Role in Shaping Racial Discourse Kathleen Oveta McElroy, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2014 Supervisor: Paula M. Poindexter Communication scholarship on black journalists has mostly focused on their lack of empowerment and the constraints that prevent them from engaging as full partners in the journalism industry, which has been shown to be ambivalent about the role of race in professional work. Racial discourse studies assert that blacks have little say in their representation by the media, where African Americans and other minority groups are treated as the negative “them” rather than the positive mainstream “us.” This dissertation examines journalism and racial discourse from a little-explored perspective in both fields: that of elite black columnists, who have the platform and autonomy to discuss news in general and race in particular from an African-American point of view. This dissertation examined the work of 11 African-American columnists who have won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary or write for one of the country’s highest- vii circulation publications. After textual analyses of more than 3,000 of their columns and in-depth, elite interviews with five columnists, this study found that elite black columnists wrote extensively and strategically about race at a level previously unrecognized in academia. The study found that the columnists heavily relied on biography and history in constructing a black narrative, which is not usually associated with journalistic work but helped them make sense of the black experience and to explain it to their mostly white readership. The research also identified six related frames the columnists used to provide context to news coverage about black America. Three frames explained the “problem people” image of black America: the devaluation of black life, misrepresentation, and destructive racial discourse. Three were correctives to that image: the raising of critical racial consciousness (while unmasking whiteness), black responsibility and black pride, and reverence for the Constitution and American ideals. The findings showed that elite black columnists were actively engaged in what could be called an antiracist racial project: to not only counter inequality and misrepresentation but also to battle the forces within discourse that feed the “us” vs. “them” ideology. viii Table of Contents List of Tables ....................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ...........................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Race and News ....................................................................................10 Double Consciousness as Theory ................................................................10 “The Problem People” .........................................................................15 Racial Formation and Racial Projects ...........................................................18 The Black Narrative and Narrative Identity ..................................................22 The Black Press .............................................................................................25 The Hutchins Commission ............................................................................33 The Kerner Commission ...............................................................................40 Chapter 3: Race and Newsrooms ..........................................................................46 Newsroom Integration and Media Sociology ..............................................47 Column Writing ...........................................................................................53 Column Writing and Theory .........................................................................58 Framing ................................................................................................58 Black Columnists .................................................................................63 The Monroe Trotter Group ...........................................................................68 Chapter 4: Research Questions ..............................................................................76 Chapter 5: Methodology ........................................................................................80 Discourse Analyses .......................................................................................81 Analyzing the Columns ........................................................................87 Elite In-depth Interviewing ...........................................................................93 Critiera for Interviews ..........................................................................96 ix Chapter 6: Analysis