The Black Journalists Movement

They could be called the integrationists, the young African American men and women who pushed open the doors of mainstream media and paved the way for journalists of color. Young journalists such as Nancy Maynard, Ed Bradley, Earl Caldwell, Charlayne Hunter Gault, Claude Lewis and Wallace Terry reported, organized, mentored and raised the bar for generations to come. [more]

Leandra Abbott Abbott saw her job as a cause and not a career	Lenore Jenkins-Allen The tumultuous '60s inspired young black reporters like Lenore Jenkins-Allen
Ed Bradley His dream of becoming a radio DJ led him to news	Audreen Buffalo "The press should always be proxy for the people."
Earl Caldwell His love for journalism began at his hometown paper	Marquita Pool-Eckert Won five Emmys for her television work
Joy Elliott Covered the South African Liberation Movement for Reuters	C. Gerald Fraser Worked for the New York Daily News and The New York Times
Charlayne Hunter Gault Before she could learn journalism, she had to integrate the University of Georgia	George Goodman Despite a master's degree in journalism, three years' reporting experience, he couldn't get hired at The Associated Press
Charles Hobson Charles Hobson broadcast a new perspective on African- American life.	Jane Irving Got her break in the late '60s working for the school paper at New York City College
Claude Lewis Newsweek sports beat opened the door to many journalism opportunities	Nancy Maynard Maynard was the only black woman covering news in NYC in '68
Gil Scott Made it his mission to educate the mainstream about African Americans	Wallace Terry As Brown University's first black editor, Terry broke the Ivy League color barrier
Melba Tolliver Melba Tolliver got the assignment of the year in 1971	Mel Watkins As a teen growing up in the de facto segregated Youngstown, Ohio, Mel Watkins wanted answers
Hollie West Hollie West never passed up an opportunity to write long

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What's New?Fault Lines Black History Month and Beyond

Multimedia Editing Program Fellowships Available Twelve fellowships to attend the Maynard Institute’s Multimedia Editing Program are available to journalists from small and medium size publications. The fellowships are made possible by a three-year grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The Multimedia Editing Program runs from June 1 - July 10 at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. The program will equip participants to help their news organizations strengthen the print product and build a robust online presence. [more...]

Much of today's media coverage breaks the country into black and white, North and South, male and female. Doing so fails to capture the complexity of American life that journalists need to portray.

Based on the late Robert C. Maynard's belief that the five fault lines of race, class, gender, generation and geography are the most enduring forces shaping lives, experiences and social tensions in this country, the Maynard Institute's Fault Lines framework helps journalists build a more diverse source list, have more voices in stories and determine which fault lines are at work in complex issues.
[more...]


Black History Project Stories of the African American journalists who broke into media during the '60s and '70s.	Caldwell Journals An account of the pioneers who broke the color barrier in America's newspapers	Ed Bradley View video from his interview as part of the Black Journalists Movement Project

Of Interest Martin Reynolds Media Academy

Black History Month and Beyond documents and preserves the stories of those courageous African American journalists who broke into general circulation media during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. [more...]


Martin Reynolds View an interview with Martin Reynolds, Managing Editor at the Oakland Tribune.	Media Academy View video from the Maynard Media Academy at Harvard University	Chauncey Bailey View video and more from the Chauncey Bailey Project


History Project Stories of the African American journalists who broke into media during the '60s and '70s.	Caldwell Journals An account of the pioneers who broke the color barrier in America's newspapers	Ed Bradley View video from his interview as part of the Black Journalists Movement Project