DIAGNOSIS NABJ: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF A POST-CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION BY LETRELL DESHAN CRITTENDEN DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communications in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor John Nerone, Chair Associate Professor Christopher Benson Associate Professor William Berry Associate Professor Clarence Lang, University of Kansas ABSTRACT This critical study interrogates the history of the National Association of Black Journalists, the nation’s oldest and largest advocacy organization for reporters of color. Founded in 1975, NABJ represents the quintessential post-Civil Rights organization, in that it was established following the end of the struggle for freedom rights. This piece argues that NABJ, like many other advocacy organizations, has succumbed to incorporation. Once a fierce critic of institutional racism inside and outside the newsroom, NABJ has slowly narrowed its advocacy focus to the issue of newsroom diversity. In doing so, NABJ, this piece argues, has rendered itself useless to the larger black public sphere, serving only the needs of middle-class African Americans seeking jobs within the mainstream press. Moreover, as the organization has aged, NABJ has taken an increasing amount of money from the very news organizations it seeks to critique. Additionally, this study introduces a specific method of inquiry known as diagnostic journalism. Inspired in part by the television show, House MD, diagnostic journalism emphasizes historiography, participant observation and autoethnography in lieu of interviewing. This approach is taken, as a means of maintaining distance from the influence of various stakeholders within the early stages of research. Thus, diagnostic journalism, as this study argues, represents an ideal preliminary course of inquiry, as it allows the researcher to gather expertise on a topic prior to the critical interviewing stage. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Reggie Bryant Story .................................................................................... 1 1.2 Chapter Overview ............................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................. 5 2.1 Hegemony and the Public Sphere ....................................................................... 5 2.2 The Black Public Sphere ..................................................................................... 18 2.3 African American Journalism: A Brief History .................................................. 32 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 49 3.1 What is Journalism? ............................................................................................ 49 3.2 Diagnostic Journalism ......................................................................................... 51 3.3 Limitations of Study ........................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER 4: ROOTS OF NABJ ......................................................................................... 62 4.1 Founder Activism ................................................................................................ 65 4.2 The Founding ...................................................................................................... 69 4.3 Initial Goals of NABJ ......................................................................................... 73 CHAPTER 5: NABJ AND THE BLACK PRESS ............................................................... 75 5.1 Concerns from Day 1 .......................................................................................... 75 5.2 Leadership Blackout ........................................................................................... 78 5.3 Convention Blackout .......................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER 6: NABJ AND MEDIA MONITORING ........................................................... 85 6.1 Legal Authority: Changes to NABJ’s Constitution ............................................ 85 6.2 The Early Journal ................................................................................................ 86 6.3 Richard Prince and the Golden Era of the NABJ Journal ................................... 87 iii 6.4 The Dark Age: NABJ Journal 2002 to 2005 ....................................................... 94 6.5 From Katrina to Imus .......................................................................................... 96 6.6 For Us, About Us: NABJ Journal 2008 to Present ............................................. 101 6.7 On the Sidelines: Sherrod, Trayvon and NABJ .................................................. 104 CHAPTER 7: NABJ STUDENT PROGRAMS ................................................................... 108 7.1 Student Multimedia Project: An Autoethnography ............................................ 108 7.2 NABJ Babies ....................................................................................................... 116 7.3 A Decline in Student Services ............................................................................ 118 CHAPTER 8: NABJ AND NEWSROOM DIVERSITY ..................................................... 119 8.1 Earning Legitimacy: NABJ, ASNE and The Early Diversity Movement .......... 119 8.2 The NABJ Institute ............................................................................................. 121 8.3 Raising the Numbers: Diversity-Related Activism ............................................. 124 CHAPTER 9: THE ECONOMICS OF NABJ ...................................................................... 134 9.1 A Convention-Funded Organization: 1988 to 1992 ............................................ 134 9.2 Rolling the Dice: 1997 to 2001 ........................................................................... 138 9.3 (Un)Strategic Planning: 2006 to 2007 ................................................................ 142 9.4 DisUnity and Dysfunction: 2008 to 2014 ........................................................... 146 CHAPTER 10: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 156 10.1 NABJ and Incorporation ................................................................................... 160 10.2 Future Research ................................................................................................ 164 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 167 iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Reggie Bryant Story On April 5, 2010, NABJ founder Reggie Bryant died following a long battle with cancer. One of the 44 original signatories of the organization’s founding constitution, the long-time radio and television broadcaster known as “The Doctor” was a trailblazer for African Americans in television. From 1973 to 1978, Bryant co-produced and hosted Black Perspectives on the News, a show syndicated by PBS. More than 170 affiliates carried the program, which provided news and information on issues concerning the African American community. Following the end of the show’s run, Bryant moved to radio, hosting shows on WURD and other Philadelphia-area stations until his death (Naedele 2010). Upon learning of his death, NABJ released a statement honoring Bryant’s legacy. "Reggie was a true pioneer, especially with the "Black Perspective on The News" show. It was the equal of "Meet the Press" and many a day was superior thanks to Reggie's keen insight and sharp retort. Reggie lives on in all of us," said fellow founder and past NABJ president Les Payne (Williams 2010b). What the press release played down, however, was that Bryant was not merely a journalist – at least in the professional sense of the word. Bryant, first and foremost, considered himself an activist on behalf of the African American community. Like many of the original founders of NABJ, Bryant’s background was not in journalism. Bryant earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Temple University. After graduating, Bryant took a job as a teacher. At night, he mentored gang members in Philadelphia. As he shifted his career toward filmmaking, his first documentaries dealt with issues facing teenage gang members. Bryant – 1 eventually – shifted toward radio and television broadcasting. But he never forgot why he became interested in journalism. "Reggie had a heart for his community. He used his broadcast career to serve the underserved. He was an unapologetic, unyielding and fierce advocate for his people. He never backed down,” said Philadelphia Daily News columnist Elmer Smith following Bryant’s death (Naedele 2010). Yet during a session with fellow founders at the 2009 NABJ convention in Tampa, Bryant expressed his disappointment with the direction of the organization he helped create. The convention, a lavish, multimillion-dollar event featuring a job fair and corporate-sponsored sessions, did not reflect the NABJ he felt he helped create in 1975. I have to take some exception to this [conference]. I have been engaged in evolution, revolution and confrontation.