Day 2: Speech Story

Four veteran African-American broadcast journalists explained to USF students Thursday evening that it’s hard to be a journalist and even harder to be a black journalist but that they have all found it worthwhile to spend the last decades fighting against inadequate and inaccurate representation of African Americans in the news media today.

Among the four panelists assembled by the USF Black Student Union to celebrate Black History month, was 82-year-old Belva Davis, the first female African American reporter on the West Coast, who reflected on her career as a journalist during a time when most stories concerning African Americans went unnoticed.

Davis fought to cover high-risk events such as the Civil Rights protests in Berkeley to not only prove that a woman, and particularly a black woman, could thrive in the field but also to establish credibility so she could shed light on valuable stories regarding African Americans.

As a petite 5’1”, she once had one of her white male co-workers ask, “You’re not gonna cry on me are you?” Davis said.

Bob Butler, KCBS radio reporter, said his main concern is the lack of diversity in Bay Area media outlets. Of the hundreds of TV stations in the US West Coast, only 12% of the people calling the shots are of color, said Butler.

Carolyn Tyler, anchor for ABC7 News, said she wanted to bring the African American perspective into the newsroom.

Blacks in the newsroom can point management toward stories that present a balanced picture of minority communities, Rodgers said. Still, people are more inclined to believe the negative reports than the positive, Rodgers added. Part of the responsibility of being a journalist is to not perpetuate the negative perceptions.

A question from an audience member invited the panelists to speak about their experiences being asked to alter their appearance to cater to a white audience. Tyler recalled cutting her hair into a short Afro.

“My agent would say to me ‘you don’t look soft enough’,” said Tyler. But she knew what he really meant.

Despite the ongoing challenge of getting accurate portrayal of African Americans into the news media, Rodgers concluded the discussion by providing the audience of primarily USF students, many of whom were black, with a glimmer of hope.

Having grown up during segregation, African American professionals had less power to choose what type of stories made it to mainstream broadcasting. Because of cheap video equipment and internet access, today’s generation has the opportunity to be their own bosses, she exclaimed, “All of you can tell your own stories!”